Inmate Dies After Officers Restrain Him; No Signs of Trauma Found

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By Orlando Sentinel

Published: 08/24/2001

Those who knew Alfred James Wade said that while he was generous, buying his teenage daughter clothes and gifts, he also battled drug abuse and mental illness.
Authorities said Wednesday that Wade died while being subdued after an outburst in his cell at the Orange County Jail.
'If he was in the jail, he should have been in the mental-health unit,' said Joan Edinboro, a mental-health coordinator at Holden Heights Residential Care Facility, where Wade had lived off and on since 1993.
In fact, since being jailed July 7, he had been in and out of the psychiatric unit, but he was with the general population Tuesday.
A jail official said it appears as if Wade, 40, may have died from a heart attack, and medical examiners found no sign of trauma, said sheriff's homicide investigator Sgt. John Allen, who viewed the autopsy.
Dr. Shashi Gore, the chief medical examiner, is withholding the cause of death pending the results of toxicology reports, a spokeswoman for his office said.
Investigators said Wade, who was schizophrenic and had an extensive criminal background that included charges of attempted murder and cocaine possession, was jailed July 7 after he was charged with aggravated assault and criminal mischief for throwing a pipe at a Lynx bus.
Jail officials said Wade had been prescribed psychiatric medication, but on several recent occasions had not taken it. It was unclear why.
Sometime Wednesday evening, authorities said, Wade became disruptive in his third-floor cell at the main facility. Corrections officers told investigators they handcuffed Wade and took him to the fifth floor shortly before 8:30 p.m. so that he could be placed under closer observation.
According to a deputy's report, Wade started to pull away from officers and fight them. The officers said they struck Wade several times with their knees, and he collapsed.
The report states officers immediately administered CPR and called 911. Paramedics arrived minutes later and transported Wade to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m.
Allen said homicide investigators have interviewed inmates as well as jail officials, and so far there has been no indication that the officers used excessive force.
'They didn't choke him and they didn't strike him in the head,' Allen said. 'There wasn't a mark on the guy.'

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