Frankie Diaz Jr.
Frankie Diaz Jr. worked in demolition and was engaged to Betsaida Powell, who described him as gentle, kind and generous. He was held at the Philadelphia Detention Center and was taken to Jefferson University Hospital, where he was brain dead, and he died there on August 19, 2020. His family says he was found unresponsive in a dormitory shower with visible facial injuries, and his mother, Eva Diaz, believes he was assaulted, while his brother Josh said hospital staff first told the family he died of a brain aneurysm, a cause the family disputes. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and city prison department have described the death as a homicide from blunt force trauma in an assault by another person held at the facility, and his mother wants the city to examine what happened and how staffing failed.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed). The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and city prison department say another inmate beat him to death, while his family disputes the official account and his brother Josh says hospital staff told the family he died of a brain aneurysm.
Reported by: Philadelphia Department of Prisons (the agency that held him); Philadelphia District Attorney's Office; his brother Josh (family or their lawyers); his mother; his family.
Sources (4)
- Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Death in Custody Reporting Act dashboard
- Family demands answers about Frankie Diaz Jr.'s death in Philadelphia jail
- A month after her son died in Philadelphia jail, a mother is still fighting to learn why
- Inmates Murdered Inside Philly Jails Amid Staff Shortages