Zarah Jackson
Zarah Jackson was 62 years old. His sister Valarie Schlosser remembers him picking her up from school in a black 1965 Ford Mustang and doing impersonations of Jimi Hendrix and Earth, Wind and Fire, and his brother Larrie Jackson recalls a man who wanted to do better. He died on February 3, 2017, after being held at the Falkenburg Road Jail in Tampa, where he had been found comatose in his cell following a January take-down by deputies, and he was later taken to Tampa General Hospital. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's office ruled his death a homicide from blunt impact to the head, and the Sheriff's Office said the use of force was justified. His family says they have received conflicting explanations and are still waiting for answers.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed). Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Selly Strauch Rivers ruled the death a homicide from blunt impact to the head after deputies took him down in January 2017, the Sheriff's Office found the force justified, and his family says they have received conflicting explanations.
Reported by: Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Selly Strauch Rivers (medical examiner or coroner); Falkenburg Road Jail's Sheriff's Office (the agency that held him); Zarah Jackson's family (family or their lawyers).