The family of man who died during basic training to join the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office served notice Wednesday that it plans to sue for “$10 million,” Channel 2 Action News reported.
George Ward’s family contends that sheriff’s deputies tried to cover up the cause of death and “keep the Ward family from knowing what really happened before he died,” the report said.
Channel 2 uncovered a video of the rigorous training in May 2013 in which the 29-year-old Ward struggled to keep up and to breath while being berated by instructors. He appears in the video in a pink T-shirt, which some family members believe he was forced to wear to humiliate him, and instructors can be heard calling out "let's go pinky" and "pretty boy."
The DeKalb medical examiner blamed his death on an undiagnosed heart condition, a conclusion the office changed to undetermined after seeing the video. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reviewed the medical examiner's work and provided a report to District Attorney Robert James.
Sheriff Jeff Mann previously issued a public statement that the GBI confirmed Ward died because of a pre-existing condition. Mann called the training “textbook” for law enforcement.
Ward previously had been a jail guard in the Virgin Islands before moving to become a jailer in DeKalb County.
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