Inmate’s Death Echoed Cox Case

Two years before Richard ​“Randy” Cox was arrested, fell inside a police transport van, arrived at the detention center visibly injured, asked officers for and did not receive immediate medical help, and was put in a holding cell anyway, De’Sohn Wilson went through an eerily similar situation.

Cox ended up hospitalized and paralyzed. Wilson ended up dead.

In both cases, the same police officer — Sgt. Betsy Segui — was in charge of the detention center at the time. In both cases, Segui and the officers under her supervision prioritized locking up an arrestee in apparent distress instead of taking his concerns seriously and waiting for an ambulance.

The details of Wilson’s fatal experience at the police department’s 1 Union Ave. detention center are laid out in a 34-page New Haven Police Department (NHPD) Internal Affairs (IA) investigation summary written by Det. Ryan Macuirzynski on July 9, 2020.

The Independent obtained a copy of this report via a Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. 

A recent review of this detailed investigation into Wilson’s death while in police custody revealed uncanny parallels between the police missteps that took place in the runup to the 31-year-old New Havener killing himself in a holding cell in April 2020, and officers’ mishandling of Cox, a now-paralyzed 36-year-old New Havener, at the detention center in June 2022.

In both cases, the actions of detention center supervisor Sgt. Segui have been put under the spotlight.

In the Cox case, Segui set the tone for the detention center officers’ handling of Cox after he had arrived at 1 Union Ave., crumpled in the back of a prisoner conveyance van, having suffered a serious spinal injury while en route. Segui oversaw officers as they pulled Cox’s limp and injured body out of the van and into a wheelchair, told him to ​“stretch out” and ​“sit up,” insisted that he was just too drunk and hadn’t broken his back, and supervised officers as they dragged Cox’s body into a holding cell, left him on the floor, cuffed his ankles, and shut the door. An ambulance crew ultimately assessed Cox in the cell, and then transported him to the hospital for surgery.

After the internal police investigation into Wilson’s death in July 2020, Segui was suspended for five days for her inadequate supervision — largely because she had failed to assign her officers mandatory every-15-minutes cellblock walking tours during the night that Wilson killed himself. Although not a cause for officer discipline, Segui and her colleagues also declined to seek out additional medical care for Wilson, even though he arrived at the detention center visibly in pain — and even though he asked at least once to be taken to the hospital. Segui and the other officers declined to call for an ambulance before locking him up because Wilson had already been treated and cleared by a medical crew at the scene of his arrest. After Segui’s five-day suspension, she remained in a supervisory spot in the lock-up.

Meanwhile, in the ongoing and quickly developing case of Randy Cox’s injury and paralysis while in police custody on June 19, Segui has been placed on paid administrative leave — along with the van driver and three other detention center officers involved in the incident. State police are investigating whether or not the officers’ conduct was criminal, and Cox’s family is preparing to file a civil suit. (Click here, here, here, and here to read more and watch video footage of what happened in Cox’s case.)

The findings of officer violation of department protocol the night of De’Sohn Wilson’s death at the detention center in 2020 underscore several key questions that have been raised anew as New Haveners, civil rights leaders, lawyers, and reporters from across the country turn their attention to the Cox case.

Those include:

• Is there a dangerous culture of ​“complacency” and indifference to arrestees’ health and wellbeing at the detention center in particular, and in the NHPD more broadly?

• Why did detention center officers disregard a visibly injured man’s request for medical assistance — twice? 

• And why was Sgt. Segui still permitted to oversee the detention center — two years after she was disciplined and suspended for poor supervision on a night when an inmate killed himself? 

Segui did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article. Her side on what happened the night of Wilson’s in-custody death is included below, as relayed via an interview that Macuirzynski did as part of his investigation in June 2020.

While some key circumstances are different (as listed at the bottom of this story), the striking similarities in the Cox case and the Wilson case mirror an argument made this week by Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson in separate radio interviews about the police’s mishandling of Cox. He said that one key way to make sure that what happened to Cox never happens again is to ensure that ​“we don’t just discipline and move on, discipline and move on” when officers do something wrong. 

“We need to identify problems, fix them, have mentorship, and if they’re not fixing them, then we need to get rid of these officers,” Jacobson said on WNPR’s ​“Where We Live” program. If officers treat people the way that Cox was treated, he said, ​“we don’t want them to be police officers.” 

In both Cox’s and Wilson’s cases, meanwhile, the family and friends of the arrestees-turned-victims have been left angry, upset, motivated, and traumatized by lives forever changed. 

Click here and here to read about Cox’s sisters and mom, as well as attorneys and local civil rights leaders, describing the enduring pain of seeing Randy so seriously injured while in police custody. 

Click here to watch an April 2020 report by Fox 61 that included an interview with De’Sohn Wilson’s mother, and here to read a piece published in the summer-fall edition of the Gulf Coast literary journal by author Catina Bacote that is entitled, ​“Eighty-Three Questions About The Death of De’Sohn Wilson: An Ongoing Investigation.”

(Here are some numbers to call for people who need help: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1 – 800 – 273-TALK (8255). Crisis text line: 741741. Clifford Beers’ free emotional support line: 844-TALK-4CT / 844 – 825‑5428.)

What Happened To De'Sohn Wilson

Here is what happened in Wilson’s case, according to the IA report:

At around 12:52 a.m. on April 15, 2020, city police officers responded to a call about a man and a woman fighting on the front porch of a house on Hudson Street in the Dixwell neighborhood. 

Officers found Wilson at the scene. He appeared to ​“have been involved in a physical altercation. Officers observed blood on his clothing, and a laceration on his right hand which was bleeding.” They also saw a bruise on his face, and found a ​“small bottle of ​‘clear liquor’ ” in his pocket.

The complainant in the case told officers that Wilson was intoxicated, got into an argument, and other people at the scene had to pull him away. Wilson then ​“fell on the sidewalk.”

He was placed under custodial arrest by Officer Nikki Curry. 

“AMR arrived on scene and treated Wilson for his injuries,” Macuirzynski wrote, making clear that an ambulance crew came to the scene of the arrest to provide immediate medical treatment to Wilson.

Falling In The Van: "Shit." "Fuck"

As part of his investigation, Macuirzynski reviewed a video surveillance footage from inside the prisoner conveyance van that took Wilson from Hudson Street to the detention center at 1 Union Ave.

That video footage showed that Wilson was already in handcuffs when he was placed inside the right-side holding area in the back of the prisoner conveyance van. 

While Macuirzynski’s report does not specify as to whether or not this van had seatbelts, the detective did write that, less than two minutes into the van ride, ​“Wilson appeared to fall from a seated position to a laying position on the seat.

“He was audibly heard saying ​‘Shit’ and ​‘Fuck’ several times. Wilson attempted to move himself and rolled off the seat onto the floor face down. Officer Wright [who was driving the van] asked, ​‘You alright’ and Wilson stated ​‘yes. Shit.’ Wilson maneuvered onto his right side. Officer Wright informed Wilson that they just arrived at the UADC [Union Avenue Detention Center]. Wilson remained on his right side on the floor of the Prisoner Conveyance Van until the rear door opened at 01:52:01” — that is, at 1:52 a.m.

Twenty seconds later, ​“Wilson sat himself upright unassisted inside of the Prisoner Conveyance Van.”

"He Appeared To Be In Pain"

When Wilson got out of the conveyance van, Macuirzynski wrote, he appeared to be in pain.

“Upon their arrival to the Detention Facility, Wilson was assisted by Detention Officers out of the Prisoner Conveyance Van,” he wrote, summarizing a report written by on-duty detention center supervisor Sgt. Segui. 

“Sergeant Segui wrote that Wilson appeared to be complaining of pain on his right leg. Sergeant Segui described Wilson’s physical characteristics as being in pain, and had blood on his mouth, shirts, sneakers and jeans. Wilson’s clothing was placed in a biohazard bag, and Sergeant Segui confirmed with Officer Wright that Wilson was seen by EMS on scene prior to arriving at the UADC.”

The pain that Wilson was in upon his arrival at the detention center was also captured in body camera footage recorded by Officer Christopher Troche, who was assigned to the detention center that night and who was the only officer involved in this incident who turned his body camera on. (Troche was subsequently placed on leave in April 2021 and is currently facing a criminal misdemeanor charge stemming from a separate matter unrelated to Wilson’s case or the detention center.)

Describing the video footage captured by Troche’s body cam on April 15, 2020, Macuirzynski wrote, ​“Officers assisted Wilson from the rear of the Prisoner Conveyance Van. He appeared to be in pain, complaining of injuries to his leg and face. Sergeant Segui confirmed with Officer Wright that Wilson was treated by AMR on scene.”

Another officer took Wilson’s temperature and fitted him with a face mask, as this was less than a month after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. ​“Wilson’s bloody pants are taken off and placed in paper bags. Officers assisted Wilson, who appeared to be in pain and limping,” Macuirzynski wrote.

Two minutes later, ​“Officer Troche informed Wilson that he was evaluated and cleared by AMR on scene,” Macuirzynski wrote, ​“and that he would need to ​‘stay strong’ until he got to his cell.”

After asking Wilson a series of standard questions that the arrestee did not appear to answer (see below), officers took off Wilson’s bloody shirt. 

As his shirt was being removed, Macuirzynski wrote, Wilson ​“appeared to fall onto the ground. Officer [Miriam] Garcia asked Wilson ​‘Why did you let yourself go?’ Wilson responded, ​’cause I’m in pain.’ He was assisted back to his feet by Officer Troche.”

Later, after Wilson washed his hands before being put in a cell, he ​“appeared to be crying while drying himself.”

Eight minutes after officers put Wilson in a holding cell and closed the door, ​“Wilson stated to Officers that he wanted to go to the Hospital,” Macuirzynski wrote. ​“Officer Troche responded that Wilson was already seen by AMR. Officer M. Garcia told Wilson she would provide him band aids for his cuts.”

In a subsequent interview with Segui for this investigation into Wilson’s in-custody death, Macuirzynski asked the detention center supervisor about the arrestee’s physical condition when he arrived at the detention center.

“Segeant Segui stated she was aware Wilson’s injuries were treated earlier by AMR. She did not feel that following the intake process that Wilson required a heightened level of observation.”

Macuirzynski asked the same questions to Troche. ​“Officer Troche stated he was informed by the Prisoner Conveyance Van Driver Officer Wright that Wilson was treated on scene by AMR for his injuries. Officer Troche said he assisted Wilson into his cell and at no time did Wilson make any statements to Officer Troche that indicated he wanted to harm himself.”

Suicidal? No Answer

Before Wilson was put in a cell and after his initial protestations of being in pain, Troche’s body camera video showed Officer Clayton Howze asking Wilson a number of standard questions from the Judicial Marshal Services Prisoner Behavior Report during the intake process at the detention center.

One of those questions was: Have you consumed alcohol or drugs before being arrested?

“While Officer Howze asked that question, Officer M. Garcia placed the face mask back onto Wilson’s face,” Macuirzynski wrote. ​“Wilson did not verbally respond to Officer Howze’s questions, and it was not conclusively captured on the body camera whether Wilson shook his head to answer Officer Howze in the negative or affirmative.”

Howze then asked Wilson another standard question: ​“Do you want to do harm to yourself, yes or no?”

Again, Wilson did not appear to respond. ​“Wilson did not verbally answer and based on the positioning of Officer Troche’s camera it cannot be determined if Wilson shook his head in the negative or affirmative,” Macuirzynski wrote.

Howze then asked Wilson if he was on any medications. ​“Wilson did not verbally answer the question. Sergeant Segui encouraged Wilson to ​‘try and answer the questions’ as to expedite the process. Sergeant Segui asked Wilson if he was on medication, and he still did not answer physically or verbally.”

Suicide In Holding Cell

Wilson was placed by officers in the detention cell at around 2:10 a.m.

At around 2:22 a.m., he tied his pants around the cell door bar, fastened them into a noose, secured them around his neck, and leaned forward into a sitting position.

He remained in that state until around 2:45 a.m., when a bail commissioner walking by his cell saw him in distress and alerted the on-duty officers, who then freed him from his makeshift noose as Sgt. Segui rushed to call for an ambulance.

Wilson was then transported by AMR to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 3:28 a.m.

The day after Wilson killed himself, a sergeant and a detective interviewed the other prisoners who were detained in separate cells at 1 Union Ave. the night of Wilson’s death.

One fellow inmate said Wilson ​“kept mumbling, ​‘I wanna go to the hospital.’ ” That fellow inmate described Wilson’s behavior in the cell as ​“buggin.”

Another inmate said he observed Wilson had injuries ​“to his hands/knuckles when he entered the cell.” He also said Wilson ​“called for the Marshalls” while in his cell.

Still another inmate said he saw Wilson ​“pacing back and forth in his cell.” The inmate asked if Wilson was OK. Wilson didn’t respond. He then saw ​“Wilson fastening a noose but did not think it would work.” The inmate said he heard Wilson ​“gargle” and called for officers, ​“but no Officers responded. He said he eventually ​‘went back to sleep.’ ” Macuirzynski noted that the surveillance footage of the inmate’s cell showed that that inmate ​“was not standing or moving at the time Wilson committed suicide.”

Segui's Side

The bulk of Macuirzynski ​‘s 34-page IA report — and the focus of then-Chief Otoniel Reyes’s Oct. 9, 2020 personnel memo about Segui’s discipline for this incident — are dedicated to the detention center officers’ failure to conduct tours of the cells at least once every 15 minutes, as required by NHPD General Order 5.03.

According to Reyes’s personnel memo, the scheduled tours at 2:30 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. were not completed, ​“and a review of the detention Milestone Surveillance system confirmed that no complete tours were conducted by any of the UADC Officers during this C squad shift.”

Why did that happen?

“All UADC Officers stated they did not agree amongst themselves to complete tours at certain times, and Sergeant Segui did not assign them times for tours during their shift,” Reyes wrote. ​“Sergeant Segui stated during her IA interview that she did not assign tours to the Officers. Sergeant Segui said she entrusted her Officers to complete their tours because they were ​‘self-sufficient.’ …

“Ultimately, as the assigned supervisor of the UADC during this shift, Sergeant Segui did not ensure that the UADC Officers completed the JMS Tour Log and did not ensure that UADC Officers completed walking tours of the occupied cells.”

Macuirzynski reiterated those points at the end of his July 2020 summary of his investigation.

“In conclusion, De’Sohn Wilson committed suicide while in the custody of the New Haven Police Department Detention Facility,” he wrote. ​“UADC Officers failed to complete required tours of the facility, which was occupied by Prisoners in different areas and subsequently the Tour Log was left mostly blank for the shift. Sergeant Segui did not ensure that the UADC Officers completed their tours and failed to ensure the JMS Tour Log was completed. Sergeant Segui, as the Supervisor of this Detention shift, has the responsibility to ensure that these tours and the Tour Log are completed.”

During her interview with Macuirzynski on June 26, 2020, Segui defended her actions as supervisor that night. 

She said she had been assigned to a supervisor role at the detention center for six months.

She told the detective that she had been trained to lead the detention center, and that she was aware that the detention center officers’ responsibilities included doing walking tours of the cell blocks at least every 15 minutes, as well as recording those tours in the cell block tour form.

Macuirzynski asked Segui if she felt she monitored the detention officers’ work, particularly regarding their mandated tours of the cells.

After taking a quick break to confer with a police union representative, Segui told the detective that she ​“entrusted” the officers to do their jobs. She called them ​“self-sufficient.”

“Sergeant Segui stated that she has many duties to perform as a Detention Supervisor. These include making copies, answering telephones, processing bonds, emailing reports, sending faxes to NHPD Records, monitoring the Arrestee’s UAR (Uniform Arrest Report) and monitoring the radio to be aware of when a Prisoner is entering the UADC,” Macuirzynski wrote. ​“Furthermore, Sergeant Segui stated her squad is short one Officer. Sergeant Segui said she fills in for that Officer, which would require her to inventory property, search the Prisoner, or complete an intake process.”

Segui told the detective that, at the time Wilson was committing suicide, she was sending a fax on the fax machine. ​“She said the machine is slow and requires the Supervisor to send one fax at a time.”

She told Macuirzynski that she did not order the detention officers to complete specific tours on the night of the incident. ​“She stated the Officers typically agree to complete tours on their own. Sergeant Segui stated she completed ​‘sporadic’ tours during her shift. She was unaware of how many tours were completed on the night of the incident.”

She also confirmed that she was present during Wilson’s intake process. ​“She did not notice any signs that Wilson wanted to harm himself or others.” She said that Wilson would not respond to any of Howze’s standard questions, including about whether or not he intended to harm himself. She said she interjected and encouraged Wilson to answer the questions.

“Sergeant Segui stated she was aware Wilson’s injuries were treated earlier by AMR. She did not feel that following the intake process that Wilson required a heightened level of observation. Sergeant Segui said she did not know how many tours were completed on the JMS Tour log and did not know who was logged onto the system,” Macuirzynski wrote. ​“I asked Sergeant Segui if she took any steps to ensure the Tour log was properly completed. Sergeant Segui stated that the log was previously documented on paper. She was able to review it easier, as opposed to digitally on the computer, which is harder to monitor. Sergeant Segui reiterated that she trusts her Officers and watches their movements on the Milestone surveillance cameras.”

After the officers found Wilson’s body and removed him from his makeshift noose, she called for an ambulance and completed an incident report for his death.

“I asked Sergeant Segui why she felt it was unnecessary to contact AMR to evaluate Wilson after his arrival to the UADC. Sergeant Segui said she noticed Wilson was in pain and injured and confirmed with Prisoner Conveyance Van Driver Officer Wright that Wilson was evaluated by AMR earlier on scene.”

Macuirzynski asked if Segui felt that she had inspected her detention officers’ work, particularly in relation to their completion of their mandatory walking tours. She said, ​“No.”

“Sergeant Segui did not feel that the Officers failing to complete the tours and enter the tours onto the Tour log was neglect of duty. She believed the tours were completed, and the Officers’ deficiency was logging the tours into the Tour log.”

She told Macuirzynski that the C Squad overnight shift was short-staffed at the detention center, and that she felt like she had inadequate training around how to check the tour log. She also said that, since six prisoners were at the detention center the night of Wilson’s death, she didn’t feel like she had enough officers on hand to complete tours every 15 minutes while still ensuring that officers were safe during the prisoner intake process. 

“She stated Prisoners may become unruly, uncooperative, and at times may fight with Detention Officers,” Macuirzynski wrote. ​“The intake of a Prisoner may take more than fifteen minutes, and every Detention Officer is assigned a responsibility during that time.”

5-Day Suspension

Macuirzynski ultimately sustained Reyes’s initial complaints against Segui — as well as against detention center Officers Howze, Troche, and Garcia.

For Howze, Troche, and Garcia, he found that they had violated General Orders 5.03.05, regarding the procedures for monitoring and care of prisoners at the detention center, and 1.03.12, regarding the department’s general rules of conduct.

As for Segui, Macuirzynski found that she had violated General Order 3.06.03, regarding a police sergeant supervisor’s responsibility to assign work to subordinates and inspect that work for form and content; General Order 5.03.04, regarding a detention center supervisor’s responsibility to monitor officers to ensure they perform their duty in compliance with the general order; and General Order 1.03.12, regarding the department’s rules of conduct, which state that no employee shall commit any act ​“contrary to good order and discipline or constituting neglect of duty.”

​“Sergeant Segui did not fulfill her responsibilities as Supervisor of the UADC to ensure the daily operations of the Detention Facility were accomplished,” Macuirzynski wrote. ​“By not ordering UADC Officers to complete required tours, the Prisoners within the UADC were not properly supervised.

“Sergeant Segui did not ensure that the UADC Officers completed the JMS Tour Log accurately and did not ensure that UADC Officers completed walking tours of the occupied cells.

“Sergeant Segui by her own admission did not assign work (schedule of tours) to the UADC Officers.

“Sergeant Segui did not inspect/verify the UADC Officers work product for completeness and accuracy.

“Sergeant Segui neglected to assign tours for the UADC Officers and neglected to ensure those tours were completed.”

In his two-page personnel memo, Reyes agreed with Macuirzynski’s findings, and ordered that Segui be suspended for five days.

Differences In The 2 Cases

Reports of the two incidents — Cox in 2022 and Wilson in 2020 — do reveal some key differences as well, including:

• Unlike Cox, who was injured after he was arrested on weapons charges and while in the back of a police prisoner conveyance van, Wilson sustained his initial injuries before police arrested him on domestic violence charges. 

• Cox was not treated by a medical crew until after officers dragged his crumpled and immobilized body into a detention cell. Wilson was assessed, treated, and cleared by an American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance crew at the scene of his arrest before he was put in a police transport van and taken to the 1 Union Ave. detention center. 

• Cox repeatedly told officers at the detention center that he had fallen, couldn’t move, and had broken his neck and back — protestations that officers ignored or disregarded as the apparent fabrications of a drunk man. Wilson didn’t tell officers that he wanted to be taken to the hospital until after he had been put in a holding cell, according to Macuirzynski’s report. (Officers ultimately declined to call an ambulance, because Wilson had already been cleared by AMR at the scene of his arrest.) Macuirzynski’s report makes clear, however, that Wilson did complain to officers upon arrival about ​“injuries to his leg and face.” Macuirzynski wrote that, based on the only available body camera footage from Wilson’s intake at the detention center, Wilson ​“appeared to be in pain and limping” — and then did not clearly answer a standard question from the intake officer about whether or not he planned to harm himself.

• In Cox’s case, Segui has been scrutinized for the way that she and the officers under her supervision physically handled an injured man and accused him of being drunk rather than paralyzed. In Wilson’s case, Segui was most sharply criticized in the IA investigation for not ensuring that officers followed department protocol and conduct tours of the detention cells at least every 15 minutes and complete a tour log. (As described above, Segui defended her lack of assigning officers detention cell tour duties because, she said, the officers working under her were ​“self-sufficient.”)

• And in Wilson’s case, the arrestee died by suicide while in a holding cell during his time in police custody. Randy Cox remains alive in the hospital — but paralyzed, and connected to a breathing tube and a feeding tube.