Death of Jimony Rousseau: the detainee of Meaux-Chauconin presented "no fatal traumatic injury"

The information was revealed on Friday by the prosecutor's office in Meaux (Seine-et-Marne). The medical expertise intended to clarify the reasons for the death of Jimony Rousseau "does not identify any fatal traumatic injury". This inmate of Meaux-Chauconin prison died on February 2 in the intensive care unit of the Grand Hospital de l'Est Ile-de-France (GHEF) - Jossigny site. And this, a few days after being "subdued" by supervisors during an "incident". The young man, 28 years old, had been transported in cardiovascular arrest to the hospital by the Samu. The autopsy had concluded to "the existence of a cerebral edema due to a prolonged cardiac arrest".

At first, the Meaux prosecutor's office had opened a judicial investigation for the search for the causes of death.

Before reclassifying as "violence by a person holding public authority" and "deadly violence".

The instruction is intended to determine a possible responsibility of the prison officers in the death of this inhabitant of Lagny-sur-Marne, who was in pre-trial detention in Meaux-Chauconin for domestic violence.

The lawyer of the family awaits "the indictments of the supervisors"

The medical expertise made at the beginning of June, which was based on the results of the autopsy, indicates that a heart rhythm disorder causing cardiorespiratory arrest could also "explain the behavioral disorders presented before his arrest. ". The report indicates that Jimony Rousseau "presented a previous pathological state characterized in particular by pulmonary and cardiac embolization", "comprising a zone of fibrosis present in the myocardium, in connection with the presence of a lead projectile" following a gun assault in 2017.

Maître Sonia Kemel, lawyer for the family of the deceased, believes that this expertise does not "change anything" in the fight of his clients: "We are told that he risked premature death. Okay. However, it was the blows that precipitated his death. "And the lawyer to clarify:" For us, now, the next step is the indictments of the supervisors. On February 7, five days after the death of Jimony Rousseau, a white march was organized on the outskirts of the prison by his relatives. The Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, had ordered an inspection to understand the circumstances of the death.

Investigators from the Regional Directorate of Judicial Police (DRPJ) of Versailles, who conducted multiple hearings, are trying to understand what happened on January 25. That day, Jimony Rousseau had refused to return to his cell after a walk in the yard and had opposed his handcuffing. Some testimonies evoke blows carried by a senior supervisor in the head of the young man, who had bitten an agent in blood. And this, while he was handcuffed, on the ground. The detainee had been taken to the disciplinary unit, where he was said to have become calm again. It was then that the Samu had been called upon.