by An official autopsy that was reviewed by The Associated Press determined that the death of a 52-year-old man who was unarmed and died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was a homicide. The official autopsy was performed by a county coroner following the incident. In light of this discovery, attorneys who represent Phillip Reeder’s family made a comparison on Monday between his passing and that of George Floyd in the year 2020.
The findings of the study that was given by the Jefferson County medical examiner’s office indicate that Reeder, who was from Irondale, Alabama, passed away in August of last year due to heart failure that was “associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation.”
After one of Reeder’s coworkers contacted 911 to report a medical issue on August 6, 2024, officers in the Alabama suburb that is located 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were assigned to a nearby roadway just after 5 a.m., according to Sandra Lee Reeder, Reeder’s wife. The incident occurred approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham. She said that Phillip Reeder, who ran a construction company, was on his way home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, to his house in Memphis.
The police stated that whenever they approached Reeder, he was walking in and out of traffic. This information was provided by the police.
The video of Reeder’s death that was captured by the body camera has not been made available to the public; nevertheless, Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys have stated that they reviewed it last week. If the video would have an impact on an ongoing investigation being conducted by law enforcement, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has the option to choose not to divulge it, according to a state legislation that was passed in 2023 and oversees the publication of police recordings.
On Monday morning, an email was sent to the CEO of the Irondale Police Department, requesting a comment from him.
A statement made by Sandra Lee Reeder revealed that the footage from the body camera shows her husband fleeing from the police when they arrived. This was followed by the police using a Taser to shock Reeder, placing him in handcuffs, and placing him on his stomach, according to her. According to her, one of the officers pressed his knee against Reeder’s neck for more than three minutes.
According to Sandra Lee Reeder, her husband can be heard repeating “I can’t breathe” three times over the recording.
According to the findings of the autopsy, Reed suffered from many non-fatal wounds as well as bruising as a result of attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder stated that after watching the footage, she was able to see that he was bleeding from his face.
In accordance with the findings of the coroner’s report, Reeder was unresponsive when the officer flipped him over onto his back. It was soon after 6:30 in the morning when he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
One of the attorneys representing the Reeder family, Harry Daniels, drew parallels between the fatality and the killing of George Floyd in the year 2020, which sparked months of demonstrations and public criticism over the methods used by the police personnel.
Because of the events that took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the year 2020, the entire world was enthralled and shocked. According to Daniels, who was speaking during a news conference held on Monday outside of Irondale City Hall, the exact same incident occurred in the year 2024.
Reeder was white, and Floyd was black, according to Daniels, who stated that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd was the fact that Floyd was black. It is possible that Reeder violated the petty offense of disorderly conduct by walking into traffic; nevertheless, he stated that “it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force.”
This month, Reeder’s two sons said that they had also examined the body camera video of their father’s final moments. This comes after they had asked the local police department and the state agency for additional information for almost a year.
“What I have been through over the course of the past eleven months is something that no 19-year-old should ever have to go through,” Zachariah Phillip Reeder said.
Riddle arrived in Montgomery, Alabama, to relay the news. She is a member of the corps for the Statehouse News Initiative, which is conducted by the Associated Press and Report for America. Report for America is a nationwide service program that is an organization that is not-for-profit and places journalists in local newsrooms to report on subjects that are not widely covered.
