Video: Jailhouse Footage Played In Court Shows 21-Yr Old Mathew Ajibade's Violent Struggle With Police Before His Death

(Savannah Morning News) Mathew Ajibade was placed in a restraining chair at 11:48 p.m. Jan. 1 after a struggle with jailers and then left for extended periods of time without an action by jail staff, a jail video played in court Wednesday revealed.

The video, played for the Chatham County Superior Court jury hearing the case of three jail employees charged in his death, was part of the prosecution’s key evidence in their case of involuntary manslaughter and failing to monitor what they said led to Ajibade’s death while still in a restraint chair.

Judge James F. Bass Jr. recessed court Wednesday, in part because a broken air conditioner made the courtroom uncomfortable for the second day. Jurors were to return today to resume the video presentation with Bass being assured the system will be repaired.

Ajibade, 21, died late Jan. 1 or early Jan. 2 in a restraint chair in the wake of a violent confrontation with jailers.

Mathew Ajibade

Former deputies Jason Kenny, 31, and Maxine Evans, 56, along with Gregory Brown, a 45-year-old Corizon Health licensed practical nurse at the jail, are on trial for involuntary manslaughter for causing Ajibade’s death “without any intention to do so.”

Jason Kenny

Gregory Brown

Maxine Evans

Kenny is charged with using a Taser against a restrained Ajibade. The other two are charged with reckless conduct by failing to monitor Ajibade’s status.

In addition, Kenny and Evans are charged in two separate indictments with committing perjury before the Chatham County grand jury that was hearing the case in what the state contends was part of an attempt to cover up their involvement in the death.

All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On the witness stand Wednesday, former Lt. Debra Johnson, who was watch commander that night, provided narrative to the video.

The evidence showed Ajibade refusing repeated instructions from a deputy to sit in a red chair in the pre-booking area, then battling with as many as five deputies on the floor as they tried to subdue him.

At one point, Sgt. Anza Rowland is knocked to the floor during a scuffle with Ajibade over a Taser, her nose broken and suffering a concussion by Ajibade, and Brown can be seen rushing to her assistance.

Also during the struggle, Deputy Mark Capers strikes Ajibade twice in the face, action Johnson said was justified under jail policies in an effort to control the inmate.

Johnson also testified that Kenny asked for a spit mask for Ajibade after he was in the restraint chair and moved to a cell in the old jail area, then called for a Taser.

Johnson retired after 26 years with the sheriff’s department in the wake of Ajibade’s death.

Dr. Chris Sperry, the state’s chief medical examiner, testified Wednesday that Ajibade “was stressed to death as a consequence of what occurred” by the series of confrontations with law enforcement before his death at the Chatham County jail.

Sperry, who works for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab, said the beginning was when Savannah-Chatham police arrested Ajibade earlier in the evening in a domestic violence case involving his girlfriend and ended with Ajibade being placed in restraints and left unattended for an hour and a half.

“All of these things added up to cause his death,” Sperry said in response to questions by defense lawyers. “I don’t know exactly when he died. That is impossible to do.”

Sperry’s testimony followed that of Chatham County Coroner Dr. William Wessinger, who listed blunt force trauma as cause of death on Ajibade’s death certificate.

“It was so many items listed I couldn’t put it on the death certificate,” Wessinger testified of the autopsy report. “I put down immediate cause as ‘blunt force trauma.’”

Bass has ruled that “this case rises or falls on the issue of (direct) cause” for Ajibade’s death.

In other testimony Wednesday:

• Two state toxicologists testified that Ajibade was “negative” for alcohol and had some evidence of marijuana in his system but nothing heavier.

• Savannahh-Chatham police Star Cpl. Reginald Owens testified he was called to the El Cheapo gas station at East Duffy and Abercorn Streets about 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 1 after a 911 caller reported a dispute between Ajibade and a woman later identified as his girlfriend.

• Owens testified the woman’s face was covered in blood and that he “took Ajibade off balance” and to the ground to control him to make an arrest.

• Owens also testified that when he got Ajibade to the jail, “Jason Kenny was the first officer I turned Ajibade over to. ... He was in booking.”