Around 11 a.m. on June 21, Dallas police stopped a person of interest in an ongoing murder investigation. Xzavier Franklin, 39, was taken into custody on outstanding warrants and brought to DPD headquarters for questioning as part of the murder investigation. After being placed in a DPD interrogation room, Franklin started vomiting. According to DPD, Franklin said he was feeling sick and needed to go to the hospital.
In video released by the police department, Franklin can be seen getting sick, at one point stating that he was vomiting blood.
Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR) was notified at 3:11 p.m. and appeared a few minutes later. In video from the interrogation room, Franklin appears to say he has pancreatitis, which causes swelling of the pancreas. At 3:37 p.m. DFR took Franklin to a local hospital, arriving at 4:10 p.m. Franklin died at the hospital at around 9 p.m.
DPD’s Special Investigations Unit is looking into the death. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office has conducted an autopsy but the results of that and the toxicology report have yet to be released.
In a second case, around 1:30 a.m. on June 28, a Dallas police officer saw a driver hit another vehicle and drive away from the crash. The officer, Fernando Gonzalez, stopped the car, and three others police vehicles showed up to help him. Roy Whittaker, 70, had misdemeanor warrants in the city and was taken into custody without incident, according to the police. DPD has released footage of the arrest.
While the officers searched Whittaker, he became sick and asked them for help. That’s when DPD requested help from DFR and removed the handcuffs from Whittaker. DFR arrived on scene at 1:55 a.m. and put Whittaker on a stretcher and into an ambulance minutes later.
DFR started performing CPR and took Whittaker to a local hospital, arriving at 2:27 a.m. Less than 20 minutes later, Whittaker died at the hospital at 2:42 a.m.
DPD notified the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and Office of Police Community Oversight about the death. DPD is still investigating Whittaker's death, and the Dallas County Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on June 29. The results of the autopsy and toxicology reports for Whittaker have also not yet been released. Jesuorobo Enobakhare Jr., chair of the Community Police Oversight Board, told the Observer that the board gets briefed on in-custody deaths whenever they happen. But the board hasn’t gotten all the details of the investigations because they are not finished. Once they are, and if there are no lawsuits regarding the deaths, the board will be presented with the results of the investigations.
Michael Dennis, a DPD spokesperson, said there were still no updates on the investigations into the two deaths. The medical examiner’s office said it can take up to 90 days to complete an autopsy. While the official findings on both Franklin's and Whittaker’s deaths haven't been made public yet, the medical examiner did reach a conclusion on a death that occurred in police custody earlier this year.
Around 10 p.m. on Jan. 3, Dallas police responded to a call to help DFR with a combative patient. A preliminary investigation determined that a family member called 911 saying that 43-year-old Manuel Najera was acting strangely. When DPD got to the scene around 10:08 p.m. DFR and a family member were trying to calm Najera. The officers attempted to do the same before putting Najera in handcuffs using minimal force, according to the department.“Even one death in custody is too many." – Jesuorobo Enobakhare Jr., Community Police Oversight Board
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Najera was put on a stretcher and into an ambulance. He was being taken to a local hospital for treatment when he went into cardiac arrest. Najera died at the hospital at 11:19 p.m. The District Attorney’s Office as well as the Office of Police Community Oversight were notified about the death.
Dennis said the death was ruled an accident by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the case was referred to the DA’s office. According to the medical examiner, Najera's autopsy and toxicology report were concluded in March and the cause of death was due to the toxic effects of cocaine and alcohol.
“Even one death in custody is too many,” Enobakhare said. From what he’s seen of the arrests, he said nothing seemed concerning about them, but he wants to wait for the results of the full investigation before drawing any conclusions.
