Darius Robinson was arrested on April 1 for failing to make child support payments. 3 days later he would be dead from a crushed windpipe. 3 months later, his murderers still aren’t facing charges.
Robinson died after three jailers put him in a chokehold inside his cell at the Caddo County Jail on April 4. At least one of the jailers kept his knee on Robinson’s neck as he struggled to breathe.
Jailers Bryan David Porter, Michael Allen Smith, and Vicki Lyn Richardson watched Robinson foam at the mouth as he slowly suffocated to death. They took turns holding him down until his body went limp.
The medical examiner determined that Robinson, a 41-year-old father-of-7, died from “manual compression of the neck,” causing asphyxiation.
The autopsy report noted hemorrhaging in Robinson’s eyes and throat, as well as fractures of the tiny cartilage (bones) around his windpipe.
Paramedics who arrived at the jail on April 4 were told he was suffering from delirium tremens. DTs is a medical term for hallucinations and tremors brought on by severe alcohol or drug withdrawal.
The paramedics had trouble inserting an endotracheal tube — a slender, rigid tube that carries oxygen down the windpipe to the lungs.
After several attempts to insert the tube, the medics discovered Robinson’s windpipe was crushed. They switched to a tube that has a balloon that expands crushed windpipes.
But it was too late. Robinson was pronounced dead on arrival.
The medics’ report noted that the jailers stood around watching the resuscitation attempts and didn’t mention they had placed him in a chokehold.
The silence “suggests consciousness of wrongdoing,” Robinson family attorney Spencer Bryan told The Daily Beast.
“If you believed you were justified in using the chokehold, you would have told the paramedics about it,” he said. “The fact that you wouldn’t disclose what you did to a first responder… it’s beyond conscionable.”
Bryan believes the information would have made the difference if medics knew why the ET tube could not be advanced down Robinson’s throat.
Still, none of the jailers have been charged in Robinson’s death.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation into Robinson’s death.
It is not know whether the jailers are still employed at the jail. The Caddo County Sheriff’s Office did not return calls from reporters or release footage from jail surveillance videos.
Caddo County District Attorney Jason Hicks told Bryan he will not take the case before a grand jury until the investigation is complete.
The family plans to sue.
