After 31-year-old Samuel Hayes Jr. became the 20th person since 2020 to die in custody at the St. Louis City Justice Center over the weekend, his family says they want answers.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said Monday afternoon that it is investigating his death and looking into potential surveillance footage, but Hayes’ mother, Anita Washington, said she wants to know one thing.
“There are video cameras all throughout this whole building,” Washington said Monday afternoon during a press conference outside the city jail in downtown St. Louis. “Where is the evidence? Something is going on with my son up there. You guys need to figure out what's going on, and let's release these tapes.”
Hayes’ father, Samuel Hayes Sr., said Monday the family hasn’t heard much from police or the jail since this weekend.
“It's been three days,” Hayes said. “We just want some kind of footage or something about our son. We don't know nothing. They ain't telling us nothing.”
Police said Hayes Jr. had an altercation with his cellmate that started around 8:20 p.m. Saturday. He was soon placed in a restraint chair after ignoring commands, police said.
Two hours later, police said Hayes was found unresponsive and was pronounced dead at 10:40 p.m. at a hospital.
Police say they’re awaiting results from the autopsy report to determine the official cause of death.
Jack Waldron, an attorney at the Khazaeli Wyrsch law firm, said the jail is required to videotape restrained individuals.
“We know that within the jail there are lots of video cameras and videotapes, but specific to the use of a restraint chair, the city has policies that say that that person should be very closely monitored and should be videotaped,” Waldron said. “That's why we're calling for a very quick response from the city to allow the family to see what happened to their son, and the city's own policies say the tape should exist.”
Court records show Hayes had been in custody at the jail for a year on felony counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action after police say he shot and killed a person in the Vandeventer neighborhood in April 2024.
His mother highlighted the fact that Hayes lost his life before he got a chance to fight for his freedom.
“My son was beautiful inside and out,” Washington said. “He was smart. Everybody loved my son, everybody, I mean, outside and inside, everybody loved little Sam.”
Washington said he leaves behind two young sons.
