Marvin Scott III’s family, Collin County NAACP demand answers more than 35 days after Frisco man’s death

DALLAS, TX – On the 35-day anniversary of Marvin Scott III’s death, the Frisco man’s bereaved family and the Collin County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the oldest civil rights organization in the United States, met with the Collin County District Attorney’s Office at the Collin County Courthouse Monday morning.

At a press conference that happened outside the courthouse immediately after the private exchange, family members and organizers told the crowd that they still have questions about the circumstances surrounding Scott’s death.

“It has been exactly 35 days since Ms. LaSandra and Mr. Scott went to sleep at night not knowing what happened to their son,” said June Jenkins, president of the Collin County NAACP. “No one in this community would accept 35 days of not knowing how and what happened to their loved one.”

Jenkins and her organization requested transparency in the form of releasing footage of Scott’s arrest and death, which authorities have yet to disclose.

“We still have no body cam, no video tape, nothing,” Jenkins continued. “You ask the family to give you time to allow the process to work. You assured us of transparency and a fair process. We watch around the country as other Black men are murdered by officers. Body cams and videos are released within 35 hours, so 35 days is not acceptable.”

An April 14 press release from the Collin County NAACP said that the organization had a previous meeting with the Collin County District Attorney’s Office, which the release said “yielded no information.”

Scott died in Collin County Sheriff’s Office custody hours after his March 14 arrest in Allen. He was charged with possession of less than two ounces of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor. Scott, who was reportedly schizophrenic, was taken to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Allen and immediately booked at the Collin County Detention Center upon his prompt discharge.

Sheriff Jim Skinner said that Scott “exhibited some strange behavior” while in custody, for which detention officers allegedly strapped him to a restraint bed, pepper sprayed him and fastened a spit mask on his face as he struggled. Upon being unresponsive, Scott was rushed to Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in McKinney, where he was pronounced dead.

Skinner announced on April 1 that seven detention officers were fired in connection with his death, while an eighth officer resigned. Scott’s family has joined civil rights activists in protesting outside the Collin County Detention Center every night until the officers get arrested and charged.