Macomb County Jail Sheriff Deputy investigated for excessive force on woman, as family wants answers

MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Macomb County Sheriff Deputy is being investigated for excessive force against a woman serving time for her daughter's death.

We have an idea of what took place because the woman's family recorded a portion of the meeting after learning the news from deputies. 

On video a deputy tells the family, "She was being resistive of the staff, she turned, a staff member thought she was going to spit on him so they put her up against the wall and as she did, her face hit the glass," said a deputy. 
 
The Macomb County Sheriff's Department is investigating a deputy's use of force against Shantanice Barksdale, an inmate at the county jail. Her family recorded video Wednesday of deputies explaining how Barksdale sustained her injuries.  
 
Her mother, Gladys Odom, saw them earlier that day, during a video visit.
                                                                                                                                
"Immediately I hollered like, 'What is wrong with your face?' As soon as I asked her what is wrong with your face, the call dropped," said Odom. 

Odom tapped attorney Ivan Land to get to the bottom of what happened to her daughter.  He went to see Barksdale Thursday but did not recognize her when she walked into the room.
 
"She was swollen from top of her forehead all the way down and what disturbed me more, was that she would not answer my questions," Land said. "I said, 'What happened to you?' She said, 'I can't talk.'"

Land claims deputies stonewalled him when he tried to get information about staffers involved in the incident in question. He is planning on taking legal action against the department. 

Odom does not believe Barksdale merely hit her head on a window as deputies claimed.

"Her head hitting the glass, she would have a bump or a bruise. Her face is disfigured," Odom said. "There's more to it. They are covering things up."
 
In the video, deputies say Barksdale had complained of chest pain and was unstable on her feet. She was taken to the jail's medical center. The incident in question took place as deputies took her back to her cell. 
 
"Even if they thought she was going to spit on them, that's not how you treat a person. She's a human being," said Odom. 
 
Barksdale is serving a 10-month jail sentence for child abuse. Her 18-month-old daughter died after ingesting fentanyl.

RELATED: Parents charged in Christmas Day fentanyl overdose death of 18-month-old

"She's serving time, she's being punished. You don't get punished twice. You don't get punished for being punished," said Skip Mongo, the family's spokesman. "Those deputies over there they're serving as the judge, the jury and the executioner."

The family's attorney is planning to file an emergency motion on Monday to get Barksdale out of the jail and plans to file a federal lawsuit.