WASHINGTON — The death of a special education teacher in the District last month has been ruled a homicide, and Mayor Muriel Bowser has released D.C. Police body camera video in connection with the case.
In the wee hours of the morning on Nov. 1, two city police officers responded to a report of trouble at an apartment building in the 2300 block of Good Hope Road in Southeast.
They found Alonzo Smith in the custody of private security officers, handcuffed, unconscious and not breathing.
The video shows one police officer performing CPR on Smith and urging him to wake up.
Smith was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
“The medical examiner determined the cause: sudden cardiac death, complicating acute cocaine toxicity, while restrained, with compression of the torso as a contributing factor,” Bowser said at a Tuesday press conference.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier said the video does not tell the whole story.
“It does not answer what happened before MPD arrived on the scene. It only gives a small window of what happened when MPD arrived on the scene, and those few moments immediately after until he was transported to the hospital.”
Mayor Bowser explained why she released the footage to the public.
“According to the rules approved by the council today, this footage would not be subject to FOIA in that there is an active investigation going on by the U.S. Attorney. However, the District’s new law confirms that I have the ability to release body worn camera footage that may be of significant public interest.”
“The public wants to know if somebody is in legal custody, why they died,” the Mayor added.
Bowser says going forward, her general counsel will automatically review all available body worn camera footage from officer involved shootings, legal custody deaths and incidents where there is serious bodily injury.
Body camera video from the second D.C. police officer who responded to the scene in the Smith case is expected to be released in the next few days.
As the investigation continues, police are asking anyone with information about that case to call D.C. Police at 202-727-9099 or text your tip to 50411.
You can also call the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 202-252-7810.
Watch the video of the arrest. Editor’s note: Some of the language in this video is offensive.
