Body camera footage released by the Norman Police Department this week shows footage of officers taunting a distressed man who was found dead in a jail cell hours later, according to police reports.
Marconia Kessee, 34, was pronounced dead at the Norman Regional Hospital Jan. 16 after being found unresponsive in a cell at the Cleveland County Detention Center two hours after an altercation with police.
Around 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16, Norman police responded to a reported disturbance inside the waiting area at the Norman Regional Hospital's Porter Campus, where they found a hospital security guard with Kessee, according to the report. Kessee had been seen by medical staff and released, but refused to leave, the report states.
Two officers, later identified as Master Police Officer Kyle Canaan and Officer Daniel Brown, assisted Kessee into a wheelchair and escorted him outside to take him to the Salvation Army located across the street, according to the report.
One officer's body camera video footage, released by the Norman Police Department, shows Kessee stand up and fall to the ground while shaking and yelling. It is unclear what he is saying.
One officer is heard on the footage saying, "You can't just act like this to get back in the hospital, that's not how it works."
While Kessee remains on the ground, the officers ask him several times to put on his shoe and go to the Salvation Army.
At one point, one officer says, "I could teach my dog to put a shoe on quicker than this."
When Kessee continues to struggle, yell and lie on the ground, an officer asks, "Why are you acting this way? What is it?"
After over 10 minutes of standing outside the hospital, both officers drag Kessee by his arms across the sidewalk. They handcuff him on the ground and arrest him for trespassing on the property.
A statement from the Norman Police Department said that "there is no indication at this time that the actions of the two officers contributed to the death of Kessee."
However, the department has launched an administrative review of the actions and "disparaging comments" made by the officers, and both officers are on administrative leave, according to the police report.
Kessee's death is currently under investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
