NOTE:

Despite testing our links before publication, we incorrectly linked this story in the Nov 14 – Nov 27, 2024 issue. Thanks to the several readers who brought this to our attention.  To correct the error, we are publishing the article in this issue.

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Why was a 72-year-old disabled veteran brutally beaten to death in an Alabama jail while his wife and 95-year-old mother waited just outside to pay his less-than $300 bond and why did the Macon County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) let it happen? Those are the questions the family of John Reed are asking today and now they’ve hired nationally renowned civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers and noted civil litigator Chuck James of the Serious Injury Law Group to find the answers. 

According to attorneys, Reed was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) on October 21 and was simply awaiting for his bail to be processed when he was beaten to death by Daniel Pollard III, a 24-year-old inmate who had been sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder in 2022.

Reed’s wife, Regene Reed, says authorities have still given her no explanations for why her husband wasn’t in protective custody or under medical supervision, why he was still in such a dangerous situation when she and her mother-in-law were there to post his bond or why none of the jail personnel who should have been on duty stopped the beating.

“No one deserves this nightmare,” Reed says. “We were there. I had checked in with the jail twice in person to see what the holdup was. But while they dragged their feet, my husband was being beaten to death. Now they can’t even give us a straight answer?”

The family’s attorneys say the jail’s numerous failures not only demonstrate obvious neglect, but represent a clear danger to the people of Macon County.

“This was a 72-year-old man who walked with a cane, used a motorized wheelchair and was on 24-hour oxygen due to chronic COPD. He couldn’t run away, much less defend himself,” Sellers said. “But that didn’t stop the MCSO from putting him in a population where a violent felon sentenced to 20 years for attempted murder and other violent crimes could beat him to death.”

“Daniel Pollard III may have killed John Reed but the Macon County Sheriff’s Office has blood on their hands.”

“John Reed was a God-fearing man, a disabled veteran who loved his family and served his nation honorably,” said James. “If a simple DUI arrest is enough to get a good man like that brutally murdered, then none of us are safe.”

The attorneys say that they and Reed’s family are currently weighing their legal options including a potential lawsuit against the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and other responsible entities.