Jeremy S. Marr, 35, appears in newly released body camera footage in the last moments of his life on April 14, 2020. Glasgow Police responded to a reported burglary at 1009 Cleveland Ave. in Glasgow. Authorities discovered Marr in the doorway of a home belong to Evie L. Tharpe.
(KENTUCKY STATE POLICE)
GLASGOW, Ky. — After nearly a year, Kentucky State Police has released the investigative file pertaining to the death of Jeremy S. Marr.
Marr, 35, died while in Glasgow Police’s custody on April 14, 2020. He was inside a home along Cleveland Avenue that morning when police were dispatched.
The following is a compilation of records obtained by WCLU News from Kentucky State Police. The following is an ongoing story.
Initial encounter with Marr
Officer Guy J. Turcotte responded initially to the home along Cleveland Avenue. Body camera footage obtained by WCLU News shows Turcotte missed the home but later found it after dispatch clarified its location.
Marr was inside the doorway of Evie Tharpe’s home when Turcotte arrived.
“Please don’t hurt me man. I don’t have any weapons on me,” Marr said. “Please, don’t let nobody do nothing to me.”
Marr came from the doorway of the home while holding his shoes. He told Turcotte he was free of weapons and later said he had a knife in his pocket. Turcotte told him to keep the knife in his pocket.
“I ain’t do nothing wrong. I ain’t do nothing like that,” Marr said. “People are out to get me. I ain’t high. I’m none of those things.”
Marr pointed away from the house and continued to ask Turcotte to protect him.
Officers Cameron Murrell and Hayden Phillips were at the scene too.
“Nobody’s going to hurt you, dude,” Turcotte said. “You see anybody hurting you?”
Marr told police he had been at his girlfriend’s house.
“I’ve got some people after me and stuff, man,” Marr said to Turcotte. “I’m not hallucinating.”
Marr appeared nervous and paranoid. He indicated to authorities that he was a target, but he never said who was following him.
“And just based on his behaviors and the information that came from the call along with what I observed there, I felt like we were dealing with someone who was under the influence,” Murrell said.
Turcotte told Marr to sit on the front bumper of his police cruiser, but Marr said he didn’t want to be in a prominent location “where people could see” him.
“Please, sir,” Marr said. “Don’t do this to me. I don’t want to be hurt.”
Police placed Marr’s hands on the hood of the police cruiser after he refused to do it himself. They began to empty Marr’s pockets, and he continued to express his fear of being hurt.
“I don’t deserve this,” Marr said. “Please don’t kill me guys. Please don’t do this to me.”
Body camera footage shows Turcotte attempted to place Marr in handcuffs, but he was unsuccessful. Marr began to pull away from officers.
Police placed Marr on the ground. He continued to struggle and resist police’s efforts to detain him.
“I will stop. I’ll stop,” Marr said. “Please don’t do this to me.”
Police continued to struggle with Marr, and he did not place his hands behind his back as instructed.
A video shared to social media shows an officer delivering several knee blows to Marr’s back. Officer Phillips admitted to KSP he delivered those blows when Marr continued to resist. Murrell also delivered one blow.
“Um, I continued with those strikes while giving him commands. He was non-compliant the entire time, continuing to, you know, disobey our commands,” Phillips said. “He wouldn’t, he just wouldn’t listen, you know.”
Murrell advised detectives that officers are authorized to deliver knee blows to the common peroneal area.
“Shortly below the due waistline is the aiming point for that,” Murrell said.
The video surmounted criticism of police’s handling of Marr’s arrest, but investigators and the medical examiner reasoned the force was not conducive to Marr’s death.
The technique is authorized and trained at police academies, according to Murrell.
Body camera footage also shows Turcotte used a stun gun directly on Marr’s lower back before he deployed a taser from a distance.
“Put your hands behind your back,” Turcotte said. “You’re going to get zapped again.”
The taser was “triggered” 11 times, according to the taser evidence log.
Before police arrived
Tharpe told police she was watching television and heard a loud noise.
“I thought my house was falling in,” Tharpe said.
Marr entered Tharpe’s home through a garage door, she said.
“I saw him. I’d never seen him before in my life,” Tharpe said. “And I said, ‘What are you doing here? Who are you? Get out of here!’ It scared me to death.”
Tharpe said she continued to yell at Marr and told him to not enter further into her house. She told him she would call 911.
Marr told Tharpe to call 911 and his brother, but she did not know his brother, she said.
“I don’t know who he was, where he come from or nothing,” Tharpe said.
She told police Marr kept repeating, “please don’t let them kill me.”
“I said, ‘I’m not killing you, and they’re not going to kill you,’” Tharpe said. “’They’re just going to come get you.’”
Police arrived and were able to attract Marr outside of the doorway.
Amy Craddock, a witness, told Kentucky State Police she saw Marr’s encounter with police. Craddock is an employ of a nearby business, according to a police interview.
“The guy was thrashing. His legs was thrashing,” Craddock said. “You could tell he was fighting them. From what I could see, it looked like the police officers were trying to restrain him, but he was fighting them.”
Craddock told detectives Marr was resistant but “was dying down” after the arrival of another officer. Police turned Marr over, and she said he appeared lifeless.
“They rolled him over,” Craddock said. “And when I seen him roll over I could just tell it was like a limp dishrag. I was like, ‘Oh gosh, I think he’s quit breathing.’”
Craddock said police began resuscitation efforts once they noticed something was “wrong.”
“The officers were running frantic to perform the aid that they should be performing,” Craddock said.
Detective Jonathan McChesney wrote in a narrative that Phillips, a former EMT, rendered aid to Marr when he began to code.
Cause of death and investigation
Marr was taken to T.J. Samson Community Hospital after he was removed from the Cleveland Avenue site. His death was confirmed at 8:24 a.m. at the hospital.
“Another Doctor on scene advised me he was familiar with the suspect from 2017, and had prior knowledge of methamphetamine use,” McChesney said.
Marr’s cause of death was noted as “agitated/ excited delirium complicating acute methamphetamine intoxication,” according to Dr. Darius Arabadjief.
Arabadjief performed an autopsy April 15, 2020, and noted the presence of methamphetamine and amphetamine in Marr’s blood. He also had prongs from a taser in his lower back.
The medical examiner also noted “absence of lethal trauma.”
The state chose not to prosecute based on the collection of witness statements, body camera footage and medical examination.
“Based on the foregoing, the undersigned does not see any credible evidence that the officers involved in the arrest of Jeremy Marr caused his death or in any way contravened the criminal statutes of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney, Jesse M. Stockton Jr.
Lawsuit filed against several entities
Joana Marr, Jeremy’s widow, was given authority over his estate following his death. She filed suit, on behalf of his estate, in federal court March 19.
The lawsuit against Turcotte, Phillips and Cameron Murrell, and Glasgow Police and the City oif Glasgow alleges Marr died a “wrongful death” at the hands of Glasgow Police.
A statement from attorneys representing the City of Glasgow reason officers’ actions were not inappropriate.
“We are confident that the evidence will show that the responding Glasgow police officers acted appropriately in response to Mr. Marr’s actions and that the claims asserted in the lawsuit are not well taken,” said Matt Cook with Kerrick Bachert law firm. “Both the Kentucky State Police and the Special Prosecutor found no wrongdoing by the Glasgow officers. The Plaintiff’s lawsuit will be aggressively defended.”
Marr’s estate is being represented by David Broderick of Broderick and Davis law firm.
This story is an event of continuing coverage. Additional updates will be made available.
