“The Relentless American Tragedy: Death of Daniel Prude”

Ashley G. Chico

Professor Quackenbush

Mass Media and Politics

29 November 2020
INTRODUCTION

Since the first settlers arrived in North America, there has been a racial clash and divide

between minority ethnic groups and Caucasian descendants. Over the course of time, America

has actively promoted propaganda of sympathy in cases of immoral acts such as slavery, Jim

Crow Laws and most recently, Voting Laws. Although much legislation has been enacted

through the Civil Rights movement of the mid-twentieth century, African Americans still face

the same racial disparity in terms of equal treatment from law enforcement in particular.

With high-profile cases emerging to the forefront of media in 2020 alone, such as that of

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake, there has been no shortage of published articles

providing information on relevant case developments. A primary issue of instant media is

distinguishing between fact and unfounded fact. This case study moves to provide all

information relevant in hopes of revealing the truth behind the preventable death of Daniel

Prude.

BACKGROUND

Daniel Terrell Prude was an African American man born on September twentieth,

nineteen-seventy-eight in Chicago, Illinois as one of five siblings (Chiarito, 2020). At the time of

the incident in March 2020, he was forty-one years old. Prude had previously been living long-

term with his sister, Tameshay Prude, in Chicago until his recent sporadic behavior as a result of

frequent drug usage caused Tameshay to remove him from housing together (Chiarito, 2020;

Orr, 2020). Prude is said to have begun using drugs more frequently as the number of his family

members passing progressed (Chiarito, 2020; Flasch, 2020).

There is competition between news sources that lay claim to whether Prude has had

biological children or not. Some of the alleged five children that Prude was said to have fathered,
such as Tashira, have come forward and announced reactions to her alleged father’s death and

thankfulness for support (Albert, 2020; Green, 2020; Holcombe, 2020). Prude’s close brother,

Joe Prude, was unable to confirm or identify any legal or biological children Daniel Prude may

have fathered (Chiarito, 2020; Dewberry, 2020).

This information came at a time when the alleged children could have been filed as heirs

to any assets or alleged estate Daniel Prude possessed at the time of his death. The news of

alleged biological children was relevant only in regard to filing an administrator of Daniel

Prude’s affairs after his murder (Chiarito, 2020; Craig, 2020). Subsequently, there was no legal

documentation or ties discovered from the deceased to the children including no presence of his

name attached to any birth certificate of the latter (Chiarito, 2020; Craig, 2020).

Daniel Prude did have a criminal background with several arrests over the span of

twenty-five years. Daniel Prude possessed a total of thirty-seven total arrests and nine

convictions (Chiarito, 2020; Chicago, 2020; Press, 2020). The arrests, according to sources

reviewing Cook County records, involved possession of drugs, driving charges, and burglary,

none of which described the now deceased as violent (Chiarito, 2020; Chicago, 2020; Press,

2020).

When reporting on Prude’s lifestyle in Chicago, most media outlets described him as a

citizen who experienced emotional hardship through tragic loss, thus evoking sympathy with the

reader (Chiarito, 2020; Orr, 2020). Additionally, side stories describing the deceased refrained

from extrapolating on any of Daniel Prude’s indiscretions, such as his battle with drug use,

emotional instability and previous criminal records (Chiarito, 2020). In instances where Daniel

Prude was not at the forefront of news, such as in FoxNews, little no background information can
be found on the deceased as the descriptions focus only on the event in discussion (Pagones,

2020).

MENTAL ILLNESS

There was a question of if Daniel Prude had any mental illnesses throughout the course of

his life or if his hallucinations, erratic behavior and irritability were strictly from drug usage. In

one interview, his brother, Joe Prude, admitted Daniel had ADHD (Staff, 2020). However, in

another article, Joe denied Daniel having any illness which would later constitute why there was

a sense of urgency of concern in calling the police in the event in discussion (Green, 2020). The

only manner to be certain if Daniel Prude did indeed suffer from any mental illness would be to

confirm the information from reading through his medical records. Unfortunately, HIPAA law

does not allow patient disclosure unless consented by the patient or the deceased patient’s

family, in which case the Prude family has also not released medical records.

DRUG USAGE

It is relevant to note that Daniel Prude had been frequently using drugs that can cause

hallucinations and extreme paranoia as side effects (Dahlberg, 2020). More specifically, Daniel

became addicted to Phencyclidine, or PCP, and had been taken the drug on the night he was

killed (Dahlberg, 2020). This affected Daniel’s work which caused him to quit and become

financially unstable and resulted in Daniel later asking friends and family for money to visit his

brother Joe in Rochester. Joe Prude and Tameshay Prude were both aware of their brother’s use

of drugs (Chiarito, 2020).

EVENTS PRIOR TO ARREST

On March twenty-second, two-thousand-twenty, Prude was seeking funds from friends to

book an Amtrack to visit his brother, Joseph Prude, in Rochester New York (Chiarito, 2020;
Licastro, 2020). There was a brief moment when Prude caused a disturbance on the Amtrak and

was removed from the train in Buffalo, New York (Chiarito, 2020; Licastro, 2020). However, his

whereabouts immediately thereafter have remained unclear until seven P.M. At that time, Joe

Prude called local law enforcement to assist in transporting Daniel to the nearest hospital as

Daniel was at risk for injuring himself and potentially others (Dahlberg, 2020). This call came

immediately after Daniel had fallen headfirst down the stairs and spouted words of killing

himself and others, thus, prompting his brother to become worried as Joe had described ‘Daniel

never acted like this’ (Dahlberg, 2020). Daniel was taken to The University of Rochester

Medical Center for evaluation.

Upon entering the facility, it is unclear as to what examinations and, if any, what illnesses

or diagnoses doctors noted Daniel having as he was released within four hours of his arrival

(Dahlberg, 2020). As noted prior, medical records are strictly prohibited from being released

without proper consent. However, there was a question of whether the hospital had failed Daniel

Prude in receiving proper care, attention and a thorough examination that could have prevented

the upcoming event. Given that Daniel was released as early as he was, was either due to an

oversight in proper diagnostics or compliance with New York State that prohibits patients from

being held against their will unless there is probable cause of a mental illness that will put

themselves or others in immediate risk (Dahlberg, 2020; Dahlberg, 2020). Daniel was therefore

released upon the custody of himself and under the care of his brother with both of them exiting

the facility at approximately one A.M. (Dahlberg, 2020).

POLICE CALL AND ARREST

On March twenty-third at three A.M., local law enforcement in Rochester received a call

from Joe Prude about Daniel missing from home (Chiarito, 2020). On the phone call, Joe states
his brother had been on drugs, was experiencing a “mental health crisis”, and was overall

incoherent (Chiarito, 2020). There are some sources that claim truck drivers and neighbors

spotted Daniel roaming naked around West Main Street, though it is inconclusive as eyewitness

testimony was not recorded (Dahlberg. 2020; Staff, 2020). From then until September, the only

information known about Daniel Prude was that he was severely injured and brain dead

sometime after Joe had called police. It was not until all relevant documentation, footage and

reports had been released to the public that the truth about Daniel Prude’s death had emerged.

FOOTAGE

The following includes accurate documentation of Daniel’s death on March twenty-third,

two-thousand-and-twenty, that has been consistent on multiple sites. When cross-referenced with

the partially edited and extended video of police body cameras, the information across multiple

platforms was credible and only varied in the amount of information described from the footage.

Little to no information was fabricated, rather, on sites that would be expected to fabricate

footage details simply denied describing the events and focused on other components of the case

(Pagones, 2020).

Upon arrival at Daniel Prude’s location, Officer Mark Vaughn exits his vehicle and

points a weapon towards Prude. Prude is visibly unclothed, and told to stop, lay on the ground,

and put his hands behind his back. Immediately, Prude acts accordingly and is cuffed by Officer

Vaughn without resisting arrest. Moments later, a second police officer arrives and approaches

Prude. Officer Vaughn is heard laughing whilst putting a pink glove on. Prude remains on the

ground while explaining incoherent remarks that are inconsistent with rational thought

processing (Tampa Bay, 2020).

 A third, fourth and fifth police officer arrive and are all encircling Prude from a distance.

It can be seen from the footage at this point that Prude has significantly dried or running blood

coming from his thighs, but no movement from officers to take any form of action. Over the

course of the next two minutes of the footage, Prude continues his verbal attacks on the police

officers, and increased the repetition of more erratic phrases. Additionally, he continues moving

on the ground, exposing himself further, sitting up and spitting towards the officers more than

once (Tampa Bay, 2020).

At this point, one officer removes, opens and places a ‘spit sack’ upon Prude’s head

which further irritates him and puts him in a state of frantic fear. A few moments later, although

it is unclear as to why, three of the five officers walk closer to Prude and proceed to detain him

via ‘body conquering’ or ‘segmenting’. One officer is on standby onlooking while another

officer is pushing Prude’s head down to the ground with Prude’s head still in the spit sack. Prude

proceeds to vomit within the sack and pleading for the officer to ‘get off his head’ (Tampa Bay,

2020).

Finally, the EMT arrives with no response to Prude’s state on the ground. One officer is

heard asking if Prude can still hear him while his body is no longer moving and all no further

noise can be heard from him. A pulse is checked, one EMT begins CPR, the officers then

transfer Prude to the gurney, and the female EMT denounces the officer’s holding fault to the

death as Prude was on drugs. Prude is then transported to the hospital where he was pronounced

brain dead, placed on life support and died six days later (Tampa Bay, 2020). None of this

information, the compliant arrest, spit-sack, or segmenting was made known to the public prior

to September.

AUTOPSY REPORT
 The Autopsy reported Daniel Prude’s homicide due to, “complications of asphyxia in

the setting of physical restraint (Flasch, 2020; Wright, 2020). “Contributing, but not

primary, factors were noted to be “excited delirium” and “acute phencyclidine

intoxication (PCP)” (Flasch, 2020; Wright, 2020). The report also included that Prude

obtained a clinical history of suicidal ideation, hallucinations and paranoia, thus, adding

mental illness upon his status (Flasch, 2020; Wright, 2020). This was the closest

available medical validation confirming of Prude suffered from a mental illness.

This information is key because although the interpretation of “clinical history of

suicidal ideation, hallucinations and paranoia” can be applied in a mental illness, it can

also be applied through a clinical history of using drugs. These two opposing arguments

are used been between the Rochester police force and acting attorneys for Daniel Prude.

Additionally, it is important to note that the report cites an inability to breathe as the

primary cause of death with PCP and excited delirium as bi-factors (Hill, 2020; Voytko 2020).

The defense attorneys of the Rochester police department viewed the homicide ruling, caused by

asphyxiation from either the segmentation technique or the spit sack or both, to be of

interpretation, not fact (Jacobs, 2020). The basis of the argument was that the frequent use of

PCP and other drugs caused extreme delirium to become activated and thus excited Prude to the

point where he was responsible for his own death (Jacobs, 2020).

According to one published article, excited delirium is defined as an agitated state of

delirium in conjunction with acute distress, agitation, aggression and is typically associated with

drug usage (Ahern et. al, 2011). The issue with arguing homicide by excited delirium is that it is

not considered a mental disorder by leading associations such as the American Medical

Association (Myer, 2019). Therefore, excited delirium cannot alone, by medical standards, cause
death to a person. News sources describing the event used code words such as ‘mental illness’

and in one article, described Prude as suffering from a mental health episode when being

arrested.

However, as the medical examination in the Autopsy report combined with the

definitions of the side contributing factors can prove, Prude had no known mental illness-Prude

was experiencing a psychotic episode (Voytko, 2020). As for the spit sack, while it was not

noted in the autopsy report, it could have been a contributed deadly factor in the asphyxiation of

Daniel Prude. Two sources concur that the spit sack was not responsible, but the complications

that arose from the setting of physical restraint were the primary causes of asphyxiation

(Closson, 2020; Voytko, 2020). Daniel Prude’s death, therefore, was caused by the police

officers at the scene.

POLICE REPORT

The redacted police report revealed countless cover-up attempts and misinformation

orchestrated by the police department. First, it was noted in red to change Prude’s ‘Victim type’

from ‘individual’ to ‘suspect’, which ultimately alters the narrative of whether Prude or the

officers would be the ‘victim’ in this case (Warren, 2020). Second, in the police report, there

were two additional inconsistencies: one labeled Prude as ‘assaultive’ and the other proclaimed

that Prude ‘resisted arrest’ (Warren, 2020). As seen in the police camera footage, Prude did not

resist arrest and was not assaultive as per the descriptions in the police report would otherwise

suggest. Therefore, this was an attempt to protect police officers at the expense of altering

Prude’s character and thus altering the facts of the case.

FULL INTERNAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

 The following was released information from a full investigative report from before,

during and after the events of Daniel Prude’s death. Both the mayor’s office of Rochester and the

police department were fully examined and several discrepancies were found. First, on page 66,

the report shows that the officers were free from responsibility for Prude’s death as they acted ‘in

accordance to procedure’, thus, releasing them from any legal culpability on the surface (Albert,

2020; Warren, 2020; Warren, 2020). Second, it is revealed in an email correspondence on Page

105 that Mayor Warren had been informed of the case’s extent, though, Mayor Warren has

claimed denial of any at-large knowledge until August 4th (Albert, 2020; Warren, 2020; Warren,

2020).

Additionally, Mayor Warren repeatedly vocalized she was informed that the case was a

drug overdose, not a police brutality case of murder (Albert, 2020; Warren, 2020; Warren, 2020).

Third, in the succinct emails, inter-branch correspondence promoted the dialogue of ‘protecting

the officers at all costs’ in order to hide the reality of the officers killing Prude (Albert, 2020;

Warren, 2020; Warren, 2020). This elaborate scheme from the Chief of police, La’Ron

Singletary, and several acting agents was only reported by a few news sources in the wake of the

updated news in September. Though the Autopsy Report, Police Report, Police Body Camera

Footage and full Internal Investigation provided many answers into the case, there is a concern of

how this managed to occur and if this can be expected to happen again.

RAMIFICATIONS AND REFORM

Some action has been taken in light of the tragic events surrounding Daniel Prude. First,

Chief La’Ron Singletary was fired, while Communications Correspondent from the mayor’s

office and other involved agents were suspended immediately in September (Albert, 2020;

Holcombe, 2020). Second, all seven police officers were suspended with pay who were directly
and indirectly involved at the scene (Albert, 2020; Holcombe, 2020). According to the Civil

Service Law, Mayor Warren was unable to suspend the officers without pay and labeled the act

itself a prime example of institutional racism, though the Mayor has taken no action to combat

the alleged racist law (Lahman, 2020).

The City of Rochester will invest funding in increasing the availability of the Forensic

Intervention Team in hopes of involving mental health professionals within law enforcement

interaction with civilians. This service was strongly encouraged by the Mayor to be used by the

Police Force, though, it is not yet part of the official Police Department procedure nor is there

required training being instituted (Warren, 2020).

CONCLUSION

There is much left to be done for the United States to be unified in every aspect of our

nation. It is disheartening to discover high-ranked politicians and police officers continuously

cover-up murder and mistakes without remorse. Moreover, every person of power involved in

the case from the inattentive EMT to the hospital staff and the Mayor’s office all had the

opportunity to help Daniel Prude before another life was lost. Prevention and proper instruction

are key components in institutions where mass-levels of positions are present. Suspending a few

people for pay and formally apologizing to the public does not educate police officers on how to

be better equipped when handling incoherent civilians. Moreover, it fails to address the issue at

hand that African American men especially are overlooked by law enforcement as fellow

citizens who deserve mutual respect. The Mayor’s office was no different in that her staff was in

on the scheme, and it would not be surprising if later it was revealed Mayor Warren had known

the extent of the case long before the release of investigative documents. There is a sense of

hope, however, in how much coverage and pressure was placed on the government to provide
transparency on the issue. Social media alone has altered news in a manner that forces mass

movement in American unlike ever possible before. If future generations continue to stay alert,

present, and knowledgeable about the intra and inner dialogue between branches of government

on all levels, then there is a possibility for a better chance at a better America for the future.
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