Stanley Wilson Jr.

On February 1, 2023, 40-year-old Stanley Wilson Jr. died in transit from Twin Towers Correctional Facility (Twin Towers) to the Metropolitan State Hospital (Metropolitan) in Norwalk. Neither the jail nor the hospital will admit whose custody he was in when he died. A judge ordered that Stanley receive mental health treatment in November 2022. Three months later he was finally being transferred from Twin Towers, only to die apparently while awaiting admission into Metropolitan. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), which operates Twin Towers, claims that Stanley was released from their custody. Metropolitan stated “that Stanley had not been a patient or in custody of the hospital at the time of his death.” His death was not recorded by either facility!

Stanley was a student leader, track star, and standout football player at Stanford University. He went on to play cornerback for the Detroit Lions in the NFL. He recorded 89 total tackles and his career ended after an Achilles tear in 2008. After retiring from the NFL, Stanley struggled with mental illness and substance dependence. He spent the final months of his life in the custody of LASD. 

Six months after Stanley died, the L.A. Medical Examiner determined the cause of death as “natural” pulmonary thromboembolism. But many questions are still unanswered. Autopsy photos show injuries, including marks indicating he was being restrained. In interviews, deputies denied any rough treatment, but LASD refused to release any CCTV footage of the hour before his death. Records also show Stanley was given three anti-psychotic medications in custody. Two of those drugs should not be administered together because they can cause anxiety and lead to a pulmonary embolism, which the autopsy determined was Stanley’s cause of death.

Stanley’s family is still fighting to get answers. Their wrongful death suit against LASD awaits trial. Stanley’s mother, D. Pulane Lucas, PhD, has initiated a nationwide program “Uncounted,” inspired by the case of her son and the many other victims, disproportionately black and Latino. Her program aims to record deaths in custody, and she has organized others affected by police brutality. Lucas, who holds a PhD in public policy from Virginia Commonwealth University and three master’s degrees from Harvard, lives in Virginia, where she is president and CEO of Policy Pathways Inc., a firm that trains teens and young adults who desire to become leaders in public policy, public administration and international affairs.

Lucas has spoken at the Mothers’ Day Action Weekend on the lawn outside Men’s Central and Twin Towers jails these past three years. “As mothers, this gathering is for our children. For our healing. And for the truth. I have committed my life to initiatives related to Stanley’s life and death that can enlighten and support others and save lives,” Lucas said. “As mothers, we find strength in coming together and advocating for our children. We are more than friends. We love each other. We are like sister mothers in solidarity.”

Open Police Archives activists joined with her, other victims’ family members, and opponents of cop terror in a united-front protest on Mothers’ Day weekend, May 10-11, 2025, outside the L.A. jails. We emphasized the necessity of labor in this struggle against segregation and exploitation, and a member of Amalgamated Transit Union 1277 attended the protest and spoke. Exposing the cops’ deeds is a basic act of working-class self-defense.

Abuse, beatings and deaths in Twin Towers are nothing new. L.A. County jails are under settlement agreements with the Justice Department and ACLU about jail conditions, but the abuse continues. On September 8, 2025, CA attorney general Rob Bonta sued LASD over the jail system’s “inhumane” conditions, but the lawsuit is part of the cover-up. It doesn’t name names, like any of the LASD members of the gangs like the “3000 Boys” that have metastasized in the jail system. There’s no mention of the LAPD – notorious around the country.

There has been a years-long movement to close Men’s Central Jail. The L.A. Supervisors have the keys: Open all the archives of L.A. Men’s Central Jail! The families want to know the secrets you are hiding! At the 2026 Mothers’ Day rally at the L.A. jails, we again called for uniting the call “Close MCJ!” with “Open Police Archives!” to expose the dirty secrets the cops, and the politicians who protect them, are hiding! Open all the LASD archives on Stanley Wilson Jr., the CCTV film footage, the paperwork of Twin Towers and Metropolitan concerning February 1, 2023, to public scrutiny! Open the archives of all deaths in custody at Men’s Central and Twin Towers Jails!