Jalani Lovett

“All this [coroner’s report] is a false narrative that the coroner is writing to cover the beating that the sheriffs put on my son,” says Terry Lovett.

The LA homicide division called Terry to tell her that her 27-year-old son Jalani Lovett was found dead on September 22, 2021, in his single-man cell at the Los Angeles Men’s Central jail where he had been held for two years to the day on a robbery charge. Since then, the LA sheriff has released only partial, contradictory records about Jalani’s death that cry out for answers. A Sheriff Department’s report states Lovett was found in his cell at 3:45 pm. EMTs did not arrive until 5:50 pm and he was declared dead at 6:18 pm. What happened in those two and a half hours? According to his death certificate, the cause of death was heroin, fentanyl and “deferred,” signaling an ongoing investigation. What was the investigation? How did he get the drugs in jail?

The coroner’s autopsy report, released four months after the autopsy, listed his death as “accidental.” But photos obtained by the family showed multiple abrasions, bruises, a dislocated shoulder, fractured arm, loss of teeth, and puncture wounds in his ear, on the back of his head and on the back of his hand, clearly showing signs of severe beating or torture. What caused the bruises and wounds? Were the puncture wounds from gun shots? The coroner’s report admitted

he had a bruise on his neck and abrasions on his arms, but in the face of those wounds it claimed that there was “no external trauma.” How was it possible to assert “no external trauma” when there were so many wounds and the coroner’s investigator narrative described internal hemorrhaging?

Jalani had a passion for music as an aspiring rapper, the youngest of six siblings. His family have been tireless in fighting for answers, organizing rallies in LA, Oakland and Sacramento. “I will fight until the day I die to get accountability for my son’s life,” says Terry. “I have nothing to lose but my chains. It is my obligation to fight!” She is raising money through GoFundMe to pay for an independent autopsy. In October 2022, the family filed a civil rights lawsuit, but the case has stalled. Terry posted an eight-part video series on YouTube detailing the lies and contradict-tions in the information she received in part through discovery, but the LA Federal court issued a “protective order” forbidding her to continue exposing the sheriff’s department as she uncovers more and more lies.

“Open up the archives! What are you all hiding?” Terry asked at a January 11, 2025 rally in Oakland. “Yeah, I’m for opening up the archives because I want to know what’s in Jalani’s records that they’re not showing me.” We call for the release of all LA County and LASD reports and records concerning Jalani Lovett’s custody and death. We demand the names and personnel records of all cops on duty at the jail that day. Open up all medical records, and all internal records and reports relating to his incarceration. The PDC, one of the initiators of OPA, has contributed to the campaign for an independent autopsy, and we urge you to do the same.

There is a long history of death, beatings and corruption in the LA jail system, including deputy “gangs” such as the “3000 Boys” in the 3000 block where Jalani was held. In the first two months of 2025, nine people had already died in Los Angeles County jails, bringing the jail death tally to 84 since the start of 2023. Open all the archives on Jalani Lovett and all deaths in custody at LA Men’s Central jail!