Video shows man's death while in custody at UT Southwestern Medical Center
Body camera video of in-custody death at UTSW
Kenneth Knotts died in November of 2022 while his family said he was receiving medical help at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for his mental state. On Tuesday, body camera video showed the interaction with police before Knotts' death. WARNING: This video may be disturbing to some viewers.
DALLAS - Newly released video shows a man yelling that he could not breathe just before he died in custody at a Dallas hospital.
Kenneth Knotts died in November of 2022 while his family said he was receiving medical help at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for his mental state.
The 41-year-old father of four was on a road trip from Houston to Dallas with his girlfriend when his family said he suffered a mental breakdown.
"Kenneth was crying from Houston to Dallas and the car caught a flat. She said he lost it. Jumped out and escalated," his mother Jocelyn Knotts told FOX 4 in 2023.
According to the autopsy report, Hutchins police first took Knotts into custody during an incident at a convenience store on the morning of his death.
The report said he was acting erratically, combative, and spitting, so he was taken to UT Southwestern Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation. A few hours later, he fled.
Officers working at the hospital chased Knotts after he ran from the facility.
The body camera video shows him being restrained after he was handcuffed and brought back inside.
Knotts repeatedly asked for water, and said he could not breathe as officers pressed on his back.
Someone can later be heard saying he had no pulse.
Death of man in custody at UT Southwestern Medical Center ruled homicide; his mother files lawsuit
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled the death of a man in police custody at UT Southwestern Medical Center last year a homicide. His mother is now suing the UT system.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide, writing, "based on the case history...and review of available law enforcement body-worn camera footage, it is my opinion that Kenneth Knotts...died as a result of sudden cardiac arrest associated with physical restraint and semi-prone position."
UT Southwestern did not release the body camera video after the incident. Attorneys for Knott's family made portions of it public on Tuesday.
The case was referred to a grand jury, but no officers were indicted.
Knotts’s family filed an excessive force lawsuit last October against the UT Health System and is seeking a jury trial.