Fox News Flash top headlines for March 30
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Instead of protesting poor conditions inside an Oklahoma jail, detainees who held a corrections officer hostage last week were really upset that recent toilet repairs had thwarted their behind-bars drug operation, the jail's administrator said.
"They're saying it's conditions ... but that's absolutely not true," Greg Williams, administrator of the Oklahoma County Detention Center, told FOX 25 of Oklahoma City.
"They're saying it's conditions ... but that's absolutely not true."
According to Williams, detainees would flush drugs through the plumbing system to distribute drugs throughout the building -- but the recent repairs put a stop to the process, he said.
Meanwhile, the family of a detainee who was shot and killed Saturday – after being seen on video holding an object against the neck of a corrections officer – is calling for action against a city police chief and felony murder charges against the two officers involved in the shooting.
Family members of slain inmate Curtis Montrell Williams, 34 – who was awaiting trial on rape and gun-possession charges -- say Williams was protesting against poor conditions inside the jail and didn’t deserve to die.
"He shouldn’t have lost his life behind these conditions up in here and the stress he was under," Williams’ stepfather, Donald Lambert, told reporters at a news conference outside the jail Monday, The Oklahoman newspaper of Oklahoma City reported.
"He shouldn’t have lost his life behind these conditions up in here and the stress he was under."
Curtis Williams, awaiting charges on rape and gun possession, was killed by police inside an Oklahoma jail last week, authorities say.
"I knew Curtis for 34 years and I know for sure that he would not just go out and kidnap anyone," Rhonda Lambert, the slain inmate’s mother, added.
The family members called for Oklahoma City police Chief Wade Gourley to be fired and for officers involved in the shooting death of the inmate to face felony murder charges, the newspaper reported.
"We need to know (they’re going to be prosecuted for what (they’ve) done," Donald Lambert said.
The relatives said Williams was under "mental anguish" because of conditions inside the lockup.
Williams had been behind bars since April 2019 and was awaiting charges on gun possession and rape, The Oklahoman reported. His case was delayed in part because of the coronavirus pandemic, the report said.
The hostage drama played out on the 10th floor of the Oklahoma County Detention Center – the area where the jail’s most difficult-to-manage detainees are housed, the newspaper previously reported.
Oklahoma City police have identified the officers involved in the shooting as Lt. Coy Gilbert and Officer Kevin Kuhlman. Police said in a news release the officers fired their weapons inside the jail after they "encountered inmate Curtis Williams who was holding a makeshift weapon to the throat of a detention officer."
Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, in accordance with common police practice after shooting incidents.
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Williams was the fifth detainee to die this year inside the jail, which was placed under leadership of the Oklahoma County Jail Trust after the county sheriff’s office lost oversight last July.
Complaints about the jail have covered such topics as bad food, insects and poor sanitation, The Oklahoman reported.
The detention officer who was seen being held hostage in Saturday’s video was identified as Daniel Misquez. He has been released from a hospital, jail officials told Fox News.
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