Two former Chatham County, Georgia, officers were acquitted of manslaughter in the death of 21-year-old Mathew Ajibade, a Nigerian college student. The officers are former deputy Jason Kenny, 31, and his former supervisor Cpl. Maxine Evans, 56.
On New Years Day, Ajibade’s girlfriend called the police after the two had an argument and Ajibade struck her. She informed the police that Ajibade suffered from bipolar disorder and may have been experiencing a manic episode, and she provided authorities with Ajibade’s medication. Rather than take him to a hospital, though, they took him to jail, where he subsequently had to be restrained after not complying with and injuring officers. He was punched and kicked in his cell. He was stripped to his underwear and strapped to a chair. Despite already being restrained, Ajibade was tasered numerous times around his genitals. At 1:38 am on Jan. 2, Ajibade was found unresponsive in his cell and could not be revived.
The coroner ruled Ajibade’s death a homicide, and the autopsy report stated that he died from “blunt force trauma a combination of abrasions, lacerations, skin injuries about the head and some other areas of the body.”
