Tommie McGlothen Killed 1-Year-Ago

It was one year ago today that Shreveporter Tommie McGlothen died while in custody of Shreveport Police. Family members say he was beaten and tased by the officers involved in his arrest. The 44-year-old had a history of mental issues and a family attorney says SPD was very familiar with his troubles. McGlothen died at a local hospital not long after he was detained in the back seat of a police cruiser without medical attention for more than 40 minutes.

The McGlothen family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against the city of Shreveport, Police Chief Ben Raymond and the four officers involved.

Those officers, 28-year-old Treona McCarter, 27-year-old Brian Mathew Ross, 27-year-old James LeClare, and 25-year-old D’Marea Johnson face charges of negligent homicide and malfeasance in office.

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District Attorney James Stewart has told KEEL News the death of McGlothen could have been prevented. He says the officers “violated the use-of-force policy and protective-custody policy and that demonstrated a reckless disregard for a known risk of harm to McGlothen."

McGlothen apparently spit at one of the officers and that is when he was pepper-sprayed, tasered and beaten. In the federal lawsuit, the family alleges McGlothen's head was slammed onto the pavement and then he was tossed into the back of the police car with handcuffs on and was left unsupervised for 48 minutes.