It has been questioned how one prisoner was able to bring such a deadly substance into the courtroom and why no one acted in time to stop him from consuming it after an odd occurrence where he drank bleach during his trial. The situation is the subject of an investigation.
Moments after learning that the jury had found him guilty of armed robbery, a Florida man drank a cup of bleach in the courtroom.
According to Fox News, Jermaine Bell, 38, was detained for more than three years after he pretended to be a courier and threatened workers at the Millennium Engine Plating in December 2018.
During his Miami-Dade County courtroom hearing, Bell somehow got hold of a disposable cup containing bleach and started to drink it.
The robbery suspect downed the cup of corrosive substance, even when an officer approached him with a trash can and attempted to have him spit out the liquid.
It is unclear what happened afterward but another clip shows Bell taken out of the trial room on a stretcher as he is shifted to the hospital for treatment while wearing an orange jumpsuit.
According to the outlet Local10, one of the prisoners became sick after consuming the corrosive liquid and was shifted to the hospital.
He is now in stable condition at the hospital after swallowing the bleach, however, the inmate’s family is raising questions about why nobody interfered as he was drinking the product.
According to Reverend Jerome Starling, a distant relative of Bell, “I see him drinking something that’s not right,” to Local 10. “His lawyers are allowing him to consume it. Corrections allowing him to consume it.
“All of a sudden, I witness him fall. I asked how this could have happened, and someone has to be held accountable for what transpired in the courtroom, Starling continued.
The person who videotaped the incident, Bell’s cousin, claimed she was the only one to leap up and try to save him: “I was the only one like that jumped up and tried to get him help.”
The entire family finds it to be extremely upsetting. That day, we believed we would lose Jermaine,” she told Local 10.
Miami-Dade police and County Corrections are doing an investigation to determine how Bell got his hands on the dangerous liquid and how he managed to sneak it into the courtroom.
While the Miami-Dade inmate is reportedly recovering from the incident, his family is also questioning the accountability of the police officials and staff present there.
An investigation into the matter is currently underway.
