MT.CLEMENS, Mich. – The family of David Stojefski, who died while in police custody in the Macomb County Jail, said they still want answers about this tragic jail cell death.
David died two years ago today after going through 17 days of extreme drug withdrawal symptoms which were never monitored at a hospital.
Symptoms which never received full medical attention, experts say.
He was originally ordered to serve 30 days in the Macomb County Jail for failure to pay traffic tickets.
During his time in jail he lost over 40 pounds, and had frequent spouts of frantic behavior going from seeming agitated to extremely angry.
In video footage taken from his jail cell, David can be seen experiencing violent seizures and acting erratically. Surveillance video shows David was also refusing to eat and his health quickly diminished.
David was checked by staff, but was never hospitalized.
Hospital staff tried to save him when he was found on the floor gasping for air, but it was too late.
There is no reason for a person incarcerated who has been watched for this period of time to die in custody he should have had medical attention” said Dr.Frank McGeorge, an expert in custody death cases
David’s brother, Vladimere Stojefski, was serving time in the same prison, was also suffering from drug withdrawals, said the medications a doctor prescribed to the brothers was never given to them inside the Macomb County Jail.
Both brothers went through weeks of withdrawal symptoms.
The family of David Stojefski filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and a trial date has been set for January 9, 2017.
David’s mother made a tearful comment to WDIV, mentioning how she has seen video footage of her son’s death on television,
“You let my son die in the jail suffering, and I don’t know who is supposed to monitor him - He died. He was suffering. It’s so hard to watch that.”
The Macomb County Sheriff and Executive say they conducted an internal investigation and found no wrongdoing by county workers at the jail.
The FBI confirmed today they are still investigating David’s death.