Benjamin Crump: Text messages implicate Avoyelles warden in Jerome Stevenson's death

BATON ROUGE — The attorney for the family of Jerome Stevenson, the 26-year-old man who died days after being beaten in an Avoyelles Parish jail cell, on Friday presented copies of text messages he called "smoking gun evidence," which he says implicates the Marksville jail warden in the case.

Stevenson died at an Alexandria hospital on Nov. 6, two days after being beaten in the jail. In February, the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office arrested an inmate, 37-year-old John Contrell Williams of Marksville, on a charge of second-degree murder.

Two correctional deputies, 60-year-old Byron Oneal White and 61-year-old Frank Clinton Overbey III, also were arrested and fired. White was arrested on a charge of malfeasance in office, and Overbey was arrested on a charge of being a principal to second-degree murder.

National civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is representing Stevenson's family, and he said they have been adamant "from day one has said they murdered him."

During a news conference, he presented "two courageous witnesses who helped the truth be revealed here today," women who have text messages Crump claims reveal there are more people involved in Stevenson's death than the three men arrested last month.

"Thank God to these witnesses," he said, standing a podium surrounded by Stevenson's family on both sides. "They're saying that's not how it happened. There were people who are higher up in the chain of the command that conspired to kill this young Black man when he was in their custody."

One was Stevenson's fiancée, Liddie Ballard, who presented a text message in which she asked someone if they saw the warden with a baton pull Jerome out of the cell.

Whoever responded replied yes, that they watched him pull Stevenson out of the cell and ask "where the mf at that hit my free man." It continues, saying the warden said he was going to "stump his brains out" after watching surveillance video.

The text exchange contained no names, but Ballard said she was communicating with an inmate in the jail.

Update: Inmate, 2 Avoyelles Parish deputies arrested in Jerome Stevenson homicide investigation

Ben Crump: Fight won't stop 'until we get full justice' for Avoyelles' Jerome Stevenson

As Crump began speaking again, Ballard began to cry and was embraced by Monica Battley-Fabre, a spokesperson for Stevenson's family.

Crump pointed to the photo of Stevenson in the text message, saying he looked healthy in the hours before the beating.

"They're trying to say it was an inmate. That inmate is saying he did not beat Jerome to death," he said.

Another woman, Charlotte Guillot, said a text she has was received by her 18-year-old nephew who worked as a guard at the jail on the night Stevenson was beaten. She said he was doing a count in the jail when he was hit by Stevenson.

She said the warden removed Stevenson from the cell and took a photo of him, which he sent to Guillot's nephew.

The copy of that text message shown Friday shows the conversation with someone only identified as "Boss" on the phone.

The texter called Stevenson a derogatory name and asked if he was the one. When Guillot's nephew said yes, "Boss" replied that he'd have an officer there soon to arrest him.

The second text message Guillot showed was between her and someone identified as Bruce Cazelot, who is the warden of the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center #1. She said the message did come from Cazelot.

In it, Cazelot writes that he was at the jail 20 minutes after Stevenson was found beaten, and he got the inmates out that hit him "and you know what happens next. Lol."

An email seeking a comment from Tim Ryan, the sheriff office's criminal investigations unit commander, wasn't immediately answered.

Crump thanked Guillot for coming forward and said they know what happened later. He held up photos of Stevenson in the hospital and read from the autopsy report about the blunt force injuries Stevenson received to his head and abdomen.

He suffered from asphyxiation, and his liver was lacerated, according to the report. His death was ruled a homicide, said Crump.

"In layman's terms, what happened next is they ordered him to be beat to death by the very people who were supposed to protect and serve him," he said.

He said what happened to Stevenson "goes way further" than those already facing charges.

"This seems to go to the very top leadership in the sheriff's department," said Crump. "We must hold them accountable. We must get to the truth. We must be transparent, and we must get justice for Jerome."

He said there are others who have come forward, who have said it was guards who beat Jerome and not Williams. He said the family was demanding "full justice" for Stevenson and that, if local prosecutors with the Avoyelles Parish District Attorney's Office won't do it, he will call on the U.S. Justice Department to do it.

Crump said he had no plans to contact the DA's office with this new information, though. He said he knew they would hear about it and could chose to investigate it if they wanted to do so.

He said he aims to get justice for the family, both in criminal and civil courts.

Guillot said she stepped forward to help Stevenson's family because she knew what it was like to lose a loved one at the hands of police.

After the press conference, she said her younger brother, Donovan Rico, died two years ago in a motorcycle crash. She blames the Marksville Police Department for the chase that led to his wreck.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Crump: Text messages in Jerome Stevenson case are 'smoking gun evidence'