BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A family wants answers as to how their son died at the Erie County Holding Center.
According to the family, 27 year-old Mikey Frears died at the Erie County Holding Center a little more than a week ago.
Frears mother, Anna Howard says she has no answers from the Erie County Sheriff’s Office as to how her son died.
“I heard my son was left unattended, died in his cell for over four hours,” she said. “He was loved by many people.”
Howard says the Sheriff’s Office told her her son died of a medical condition, but she says her son had no health problems.
“He’s a healthy young man,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with my son.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office, a medical response team initiated efforts to revive Frears and “deployed an automatic defibrillator, but the device did not advise a shock.”
The Sheriff’s Office says it cannot comment on this because it is still under investigation.
Buffalo Activist and Erie County Sheriff candidate Myles Carter is calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to remove Sheriff Tim Howard.
“If we allow Sheriff Howard to stay in office, another person statistically will die in this building before his term is over,” he said.
“The community has issues with the fact that people go there and die,” Carter said.
Howard says she’s been told she has to pay for her son’s autopsy and toxicology reports, and results won’t be done for another six weeks.
“We have to wait three months to find out what happened to him,” said Gina Ashley, Frears’ fiancee.
Frears death marks the 32 death at the Erie County Holding Center since 2005 when Howard was first elected.
