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A mentally ill SC man sought help. He was sentenced to death

Jamal Sutherland was sentenced to death.

But Sutherland was never convicted of a crime. The only charge he faced was a misdemeanor following a fight at the Palmetto Lowcountry Behavioral Health.

There, he had sought help for his mental illness, but instead he was arrested and taken to jail.

Graphic body camera footage shows what happened to him next.

As he was being taken from his cell for a bond hearing on the morning of Jan. 5, deputies repeatedly fired their Tasers at him and sprayed him with a chemical irritant.

Watch the footage for yourself.

If you find it difficult to view, imagine what Jamal Sutherland endured.

You can see and hear his agony as he lies on the floor of the Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston.

The pain is overwhelming.

And then nothing. Jamal Sutherland is dead.

On Monday, Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said the deputies involved, detention deputy Brian Houle and detention Sgt. Lindsay Fickett, will not face criminal charges.

Wilson said the state’s laws offer no options to pursue excessive force charges.

“But I cannot and will not say that what happened to Jamal Sutherland is justified — it is not,” Wilson said.

She called Sutherland’s death a tragedy, but said she could not legally prove that there was any criminal intent behind the deputies’ actions.

Sutherland’s mother Amy did not blame Wilson for the lack of legal recourse, but she will not let the deputies or the system that failed her son forget.

“Y’all ain’t getting away with nothing. You’re not getting away with anything,” Amy Sutherland said.

We believe no one should get away with causing the death of a young man simply seeking help for his mental illness.

We believe no one should get away with using excessive force on a fellow human being.

We believe South Carolina’s mental health systems and law enforcement agencies must address the lack of care Jamal Sutherland and others like him face in our state.

We urge Gov. Henry McMaster and State Senate President Harvey Peeler to take steps to change the law and ensure this young man did not die in vain.

Jamal Sutherland was sentenced to death.