Linwood "Ray" Lambert
Linwood Lambert Jr., a Black man who worked in construction, died on May 4, 2013, in South Boston, Virginia, after South Boston police took him from a motel call to a hospital for a mental health concern. Officers shackled him and used stun guns on him repeatedly at the hospital and in the patrol car, and he was found unconscious when he arrived at the jail. An autopsy attributed his death to cocaine-induced excited delirium, which police cite, while his sister Gwendolyn Smalls and the family's lawyers say the repeated tasings and denial of medical care caused it. In 2016 federal prosecutors declined to bring civil rights charges against the officers, which his sister called a failure of accountability, and the family's civil suit is on appeal; the officers' lawyers deny wrongdoing.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). Police cite the autopsy's finding of cocaine intoxication, while his sister and lawyer say officers' repeated tasings and denial of medical care killed him.
Reported by: South Boston police (the agency that held him); autopsy report; his sister and lawyer.
Lawsuit: His family sued the South Boston officers in federal court, and the civil suit is on appeal; no settlement or award is reported.