‘He could not breathe’: Is teen who died handcuffed, face down Wichita’s George Floyd?

After being restrained with a device a judge has likened to torture, a handcuffed Black 17-year-old died in custody in Wichita. And yet, three months later, no one has been held accountable for what the medical examiner called a homicide.

The foster father of Cedric “CJ” Lofton told police early on Sept. 24 that the teenager was having a mental health episode. The young man died two days later. His heart and breathing stopped after he was restrained at the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center.

This week, the medical examiner ruled his death was a homicide from “complications of cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position.” Lofton was handcuffed and lying on his stomach when he was fatally injured, according to the medical examiner.

Lofton’s autopsy found acute respiratory failure, acute kidney injury — and, notably, “anoxic brain injury,” which is caused by a complete lack of oxygen to the brain.

The family’s lawyer says the autopsy — and the surveillance video that has been shown only to the family and their lawyers — both prove it’s a case of excessive force against a teen in crisis.

Wichita and Sedgwick County officials aren’t saying much of anything, pending an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities initially maintained there were no serious injuries to Lofton, only scratches and a bruise, but that narrative was a “deflection from the truth,” according to family attorney Andrew M. Stroth, managing partner of Chicago civil rights law firm Action Injury Law Group, which is working alongside Wichita civil rights lawyer Steven Hart. “The autopsy speaks for itself, just like the video speaks for itself. They took away Cedric’s breath. He could not breathe.”

Stroth wouldn’t go into detail about what the video shows. But he says it demonstrates “that there was undue, excessive force and pressure, and the autopsy supports that evidence.” Several correctional officers involved are on paid administrative leave, according to a county spokesperson.

The KBI said that police who responded to the initial call used a full-body “wrap” restraint on him for an extended period. A federal judge last year described a similar device as unconstitutional “torture” and illegal punishment, and prohibited its use at an Iowa facility for delinquent boys with mental disabilities.

An Arkansas ombudsman for the state’s juvenile justice system had himself put into a similar restraint, noting afterward that, “I found difficulty in breathing and, in turn, increased anxiety.” In other words, the last thing someone already in mental distress needs. The Wichita Police Department did not return a request for comment.

“That system was not designed for Cedric Lofton, that’s for sure,” says Stroth.

Lofton’s family spokesman, the Rev. Maurice Evans of Wichita, who worked to keep protests after George Floyd’s murder peaceful in his city, says he also tried to help authorities respond immediately to the Lofton tragedy. He suggested that they promise Lofton’s family justice and compensation, too. He says he was rebuffed.

“I think that people are going to be upset,” the pastor of Powerful Community Church says. “I think that they are going to be justifiably angry. And since they chose not to do anything with it, that anger is going to have to outlet in some way. And I’m not going to try and stop it.

“It is a disaster. And I don’t think they’re taking it as serious as it needs to be. I’ve tried to work with them and help them through this. And there has not been an interest.”

It’s amazing that this even needs to be said, post-Floyd. But delay, deflection and defensiveness only make an already combustible situation more likely to explode.

This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.