Family wants answers about 2018 death of Queens-born Army veteran in jail cell
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The family of an Army veteran is searching for answers, more than a year after his death in a jail cell in Pennsylvania.
It's been 14 months of sorrow and pain. "It's devastating, my family is devastated," said Dwayne Palmer.
But after all this time he is no closer to knowing what happened to his brother Everett.
"You vacillate between depression, anger, for the quest and thirst for information," said Dwayne.
41-year-old Everett Palmer was a Queens-born father of two. On April 7, 2018, he presented himself to police in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on a warrant for a past drunk driving case.
They arrested him on the spot, but after two days in jail he died in custody.
"I haven't seen a case with more unanswered questions than this one," said family attorney Lee Merritt.
Merritt says the Palmers have waited long enough. They do have an autopsy report which suggests Palmer was somehow high on meth and needed to be restrained.
The manner of death is still undetermined.
"Where's the narrative?" said Merritt. "When are you gonna tell this family who's been waiting for 14 months what actually happened? They're not looking for someone to blame. They're looking for answers."
But the coroner says the Palmer family won't get those answers anytime soon. She says justice in central Pennsylvania will not be rushed.
"We're in an era where people see a TV show and they think it's solved in an hour and they think this is how this works, but this is not how this works," said coroner Pam Gay.
"My mom had five children, she now has four children, and we have no credible explanation as to why her second child Everett Palmer Junior is no longer with us," said Dwayne.
The DA in York County, Pennsylvania has jurisdiction over this case and Tuesday night his office said they would have no comment because of an active investigation.
But 14 months into that investigation Everett Palmer's family wonders how much longer they'll have to wait.
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