An inmate discovered dead in his detention cell over the weekend was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the county saying that in 2019, he and other detainees were tortured by jail officials who forced them to listen to the children's song "Baby Shark" for hours on end.
According to an Oklahoma County Detention Center press release, John Basco, 48, was discovered unconscious in his cell early Sunday morning.
Inmate Suing Over Alleged Torture Found Dead
He was pronounced dead after correctional personnel attempted to save his life, according to reports. Basco's death is the 14th this year at the prison, which has been chastised for inmate fatalities, escapes, and other issues, Fox News reported.
According to Mark Opgrande, a jail spokesperson, there were no clear indicators of foul play and detectives will look into the possibility of a drug overdose. The cause of death will be determined by the State Medical Examiner's Office.
Basco, who was arrested on a drug trafficking charge on Thursday, was one of many inmates who sued the county in federal court for allegedly being shackled to a wall and forced to listen to the song "Baby Shark" on loop for hours during separate events in 2019. In connection with the occurrences, a prison lieutenant retired and two detention officers were dismissed; all three face misdemeanor charges.
Cameron Spradling, Basco's attorney, told The Oklahoman that the circumstances surrounding his death were "disturbing" and urged the preservation of all evidence as the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation examines.
Basco has a long history of criminal convictions in Oklahoma County extending back to the mid-1990s, largely for drug, property, and weapons charges, according to Oklahoma jail records. He was sentenced to ten years in jail for second-degree murder in 2000 and released in 2007, according to documents.
Oklahoma Jail's "Baby Shark" Lawsuit
Daniel Hendrick, Joseph Mitchell, and John Basco claimed in the Baby Shark lawsuit that they were taken from their cells at the Oklahoma County Detention Center by two officers, placed in a "standing stress position" with their arms handcuffed behind their backs, and then forced to listen to the popular children's song on repeat for hours.
The conduct was described in the claim as "tantamount to torture," and the two policemen involved, Christian Charles Miles and Gregory Cornell Butler Jr., were described as "wanton, depraved, and sadistic."
Per Daily Mail, it compared the behavior to heavy metal music played at Guantanamo Bay as a "enhanced interrogation" approach to undermine the will of Iraqi inmates, and referenced academic research to explain why the Baby Shark song by Pinkfong, which went viral in 2019, is particularly irritating.
Lawyers for the since-released detainees stated in the complaint that when they were forced to listen to the music in November and December 2019, they "presented no threat to the police or anyone else," were compliant, and were not aggressively defying any legal instruction.
The lawyers argue that the "prolonged restraint under the conditions described herein is tantamount to torture, was excessive, and not rationally related to any legitimate governmental or penological purpose," and that failing to address those issues rendered them "deliberately indifferent to citizens' health and safety."
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