'I Witnessed The Homicide Of Eric Lurry:' Lawyer Tells NBC

JOLIET, IL —On Wednesday night, Chicago television station NBC Channel 5 became the first news outlet to show viewers the Joliet Police Department's Jan. 28 in-camera video of Eric Lurry, a Black man from Joliet, who died after being in the backseat of a squad car for several minutes.

Lurry, 37, was pronounced dead several hours later at AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center on Jan. 29.

On Wednesday morning, Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner and Deputy Chief Darrell Gavin led a news conference to discuss the video but they chose not to release a copy of the videotape to journalists who attended the event.

The in-custody video shows a Joliet police officer pinching Lurry's nose shut for nearly two entire minutes while a second officer used a baton to recover something from Lurry's mouth, NBC Chicago reported.

Patch has learned that Joliet Police Sgt. Doug May is the officer in the video who held Lurry's nose shut in an apparent attempt to recover drug evidence from inside Lurry's mouth. The officer using the baton that went into Lurry's mouth as seen in the video is rookie officer Andrew McCue.

May is also seen in the video smacking Lurry in the head and yelling, "Wake up, bitch!"

"I think I just witnessed the homicide of Eric Lurry," Chicago civil rights attorney Michael Oppenheimer told NBC 5 on Wednesday night. "These police officers knew that he was obviously in distress, and they never called 911. For over seven minutes, they never call 911. The law is against them. You have to call 911 to give him aid."

After watching NBC's report, Joliet social justice advocate and author Ernest Crim alerted his followers on Facebook: "R.I.P. #EricLurry. He needed help, not excessive force. He needed an EMT, not JPD holding his nose and throat while slapping him and forcing a baton in his mouth."

To watch Wednesday night's exclusive video report from NBC Chicago, go here.