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Died in jail or a lockup

Curtis Montrell Williams

34 years old · died March 27, 2021 · Oklahoma County Detention Center, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Curtis Montrell Williams, 34, was held at the Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City. His mother, Rhonda Lambert, said she had known him for 34 years and that he was trying to bring needed changes to the jail. On Saturday, March 27, 2021, during a standoff on the jail's 10th floor, Oklahoma City police officers shot and killed him, and police said they acted to free a detention officer who had been taken hostage. His family and local activists say conditions in the jail pushed him to act and describe the shooting as an execution, while a county commissioner said the conditions had nothing to do with the incident. The district attorney cleared the officers of wrongdoing, and the family has called for criminal charges against them.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). Oklahoma City police say officers shot him as he held a makeshift knife to a detention officer's neck, while his family and activists say poor jail conditions pushed him to act and call the shooting an execution; the district attorney cleared the officers of wrongdoing, and the family's mother says he did not have to die.

Reported by: Oklahoma City Police Department (the agency that held him); Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater; Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III (the agency that held him); his mother, Rhonda Lambert (family or their lawyers); his family; local activists.

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