BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Buffalo mother is pleading for justice after she claims her son was brutally beaten by 15 corrections officers at the Elmira Correctional Facility at the beginning of October.
Dorothy Richardson is the mother of 27-year-old Leonard Neal Robinson. 7 News reporter Yoselin Person was able to speak with him.
*Warning, the details of what happened to Leonard Neal Robinson could be disturbing to read.*
Robinson said hot water and oil were splashed on his face. He added that he was thrown down the stairs while officers called him a racial slur.
"I have no skin on my forehead at all. It came off when they repeatedly banged my head on the wall," he said. "I got strangled."
7 News asked Robinson how this all started.
"I’ve seen something that I wasn't supposed to see. That's when everything started happening to me."
Yoselin: "What did you see that you weren’t supposed to see?"
Robinson: "A drug transaction between officers."
Robinson said he was beaten for two hours. Eventually, he was taken to the hospital.
"They said when the police ask what happened, you better not tell them anything," he said. "When the hospital asks, you better say you got into a fight."
Robinson’s mother was informed about the incident so she took action for her son before things could get worse. She filed a lawsuit against the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
"I told them I’m calling Kathy Hochul and I’m calling other officials. As soon as I said that, they got my son out of there at 2 o’clock on October 13," she said.
Robinson is now in the Auburn Correctional Facility.
7 News reached out to the department about this case. They responded with a brief statement:
“The Department does not comment on pending litigation.”
Attorney Mark Overall responded with the following:
"Justice is public admission from the department saying that he was brutalized. Justice is making sure every correctional officer that was involved gets arrested and sent to prison, and that the state takes policy change and action to correct this issue."
Richardson said the need for medical attention for her son is pressing.
"I’ve been crying and praying out to God and that’s all I can do," she expressed.
And Robinson hopes something will get done.
"I wish this doesn't happen to anybody else," he said.
