Mental Health Call Leads to Man's Death in Police Custody in a Department Already Under Scrutiny for Shooting a Suspect | Crime Alert 10AM 04.28.25

A man in Alabama dies after a mental health crisis leads to a violent police encounter, raising fresh questions about excessive force in the second death of a suspect while in custody. Two people in Michigan face torture charges after a man who uses a wheelchair is left with brain injuries during a brutal assault. Police in Florida arrest a mother after two toddlers are found wandering naked near her home in Hialeah. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, Breaking crime news Now.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson. A man in Alabama dies after a
mental health crisis leads to a violent encounter with police,
raising fresh questions about force and accountability in the Decatur department.
John L. J. Scott Junior, thirty nine years old, died
at Huntsville Hospital on Tuesday, one week after Decatur police
arrested him during what his family describes as a mental

(00:24):
health episode. His mother had called nine to one one
for help. It was April fifteenth.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
The officers decided, according to their own statements, that he
was in a manic episode, that he was sweating profusely,
and that it was probably on drugs.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
That's attorney Lee meyrit On waff he's representing the family.
Police first spoke with Scott at his mother's home that
day and left without incident. Hours later, they found him
outside Brooke Ridge Apartments, sweating and acting erratically. Officers urged
him to voluntarily get in an ambulance for mental health treatment.
When he refused, they moved to arrest him, citing a

(00:57):
warrant for failure to appear in court. Body cae showed
Scott getting panicked as officers tried to handcuff him. Officers
taste him multiple times and wrestled him to the ground.
Scott can be heard yelling quote, I can't breathe while
officers ordered him to comply. He was taken to Morgan
County Jail. About an hour later, jail staff noticed signs
of distress. Paramedics transported him first to Decatur Morgan Hospital,

(01:21):
then to Huntsville Hospital, where he fell into a coma
and died days later. Attorney Merit criticizing the police's use
of force.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Repeatedly assaulting someone in that state may have a severe
impact on their body, repeatedly tasing someone with five thousand
bolts of electricity.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Merritt also says the city's mental health liaison should have
been present at the arrest, not just contacted. Scott's death
comes during ongoing outrage Indicator where another man by the
name of Steve Perkins was shot and killed by police
in twenty twenty three. Merritt represents his family as well.
The Madison County Sheriff's Office has taken over the investigation

(01:57):
and autopsy is pending.

Speaker 4 (01:58):
His heart was bigger and now weigh his physical stature.
He was the type of in the visual that was
willing to literally give you the shirt off his back
if needy, or he would go to extra mouths to
help out in a way that he could.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
That's Curtis Taylor, a friend of the victim. Friends and
family held a prayer vigil for Scott at the church
at Stone River. They described him as a quote gentle
giant and a father of five, a friend who always
tried to lift up those around him. Scott's family has
launched to go fundme to help cover funeral expenses. As
of today, it's raised almost fourteen thousand dollars toward a

(02:29):
thirty thousand dollars goal. Funeral services will be held on
Wednesday at Jackson Memory Funeral Home in Town Creek, Alabama,
with burial to follow at Stirs Cemetery. More crime and
justice news after this. Two people in Michigan face torture

(02:50):
charges after a man who uses a wheelchairs left with
brain injuries during a brutal attack. On January twenty ninth.
Police say Britney Walker, aged thirty five, and Samuel Peyton,
sixty two, attacked a forty four year old unidentified man
inside an apartment on Koonant Street in Detroit. The three
got into an argument, and during the assault, Walker and

(03:10):
Peyton allegedly tried to pour bleach down the man's throat.
The victim was hospitalized with a cranial bleed and a
broken orbital bone. Walker was charged with torture first degree,
vulnerable adult abuse, assault with intend to do great bodily
harm less than murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault.
Peyton was charged with torture and assault with intent to

(03:31):
do great bodily harm less than murder. Their bonds were
set at one million dollars each. The relationship between the
suspects and the victim has not been made public. Police
in Florida arrest a mother after two toddlers are found
wandering naked near her home and Hialiah on Tuesday. Two
women saw the children, ages one and three, wearing their
birthday suits around West thirty seventh Street around three thirty pm.

(03:53):
One of the toddlers pointed out their house to the women.
They took the children there and knocked on the window.
The Good Samaritans told police the mother to five year
old Heidi, Teresa diz Torres quote shrugged and waved her off.
Officers arrived and saw the children outside again with no
adult nearby. They went into the home, worried the children
were in danger. Inside they found diz Torres, who seemed

(04:13):
to be under the influence. Police said she would not
answer questions about the children. Officers found two pipes with
suspected methamphetamine in plain View. The Florida Department of Children
and Families was called to the home to take the kids.
Diz Torres was arrested on felony child neglects. She remains
held at Turner Guildford Knight Correctional Center with bail set
at two thy five hundred dollars. A woman in Texas

(04:37):
vanishes after leaving a diner and calling for a ride
during the early morning hours. Vanida and Mayberry, thirty years old,
disappeared from Fort Worth March sixth of nineteen ninety seven.
She was last seen at the restaurant, where she called
a friend for help. Her friend later told police that
Mayberry had been crying during the call. That was the
last anyone heard from her. Her gray nineteen eighty nine

(04:57):
Hundai Accent with Texas plate GA zero six N also
went missing and has not been found. Mayberry lived in
a mobile home in Saginaw. When family went to check
on her, they found her four dogs left alone and
the television still on. Her family said she had been
in good spirits and enjoyed her job, though she had
been in minor trouble with the law. They said she

(05:18):
was working to clear her record. They described it as
unusual for her to leave her pets behind. Mayberry his
brown hair, hazel eyes, an eye shaped scar on her
right cheek, the letter I cigarette, burned scars on both legs,
scars on both wrists, and two small brown birthmarks on
her back. Arrant County Sheriff's is investigating. Anyone with information

(05:38):
can call eight one seven eight eight four thirteen oh
five for the latest crime and justice news. Follow crime
alerts hourly update on your favorite podcasts. Out with this
crime alert, I'm Drew Nelson.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
How could a beautiful, young first grade teacher be stabbed
to twenty times, including in the back, allegedly die of suicide? Yes,
that was the medical examiner's official ruling after a closed
door meeting. He first named it a homicide. Why what
happened to Ellen Greenberg? A huge American miscarriage of justice?

(06:21):
For an in depth look at the facts, See what
Happened to Ellen on Amazon. All proceeds to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children,