DALLAS — Diamond Ross' family says she was treated less than human as she was dying in Dallas police custody last August.
Body camera videos released by the department show Ross begging for help.
“Water. I need some water,” Ross said.
In August 2018, Dallas police were initially called to a domestic disturbance. Police said Ross, high on PCP, fought with them when they arrived.
According to the videos, Ross went into medical distress as officers were trying to arrest her.
"I can't breathe,” Ross said.
Dallas Fire-Rescue treated her at the scene, and despite her being almost unresponsive, they told police it was OK to take Ross to jail.
She was arrested for having outstanding warrants, police said.
Video obtained by WFAA shows what happened once the officers arrived with Ross at the City of Dallas Detention Center.
They take Ross out of the squad car and leave her on the pavement.
Then you see them pick her up and carry her into the jail.
She's then dragged into a holding cell and left there. Police officers don’t attempt any form of CPR.
"Nobody should be treated like that, nobody," said Diamond's mother Ethelyn Ross.
Ross is then put into a wheelchair and officers walk off.
"You see the way they just plopped her down in that chair. That's disrespectful,” Kia-Tenai Thomas said about the treatment of her aunt.
At the 12-minute mark on the video, paramedics arrive to help.
Ross was taken to Baylor Hospital, where she was declared dead the next day. Her death was ruled an accidental overdose.
"I was crushed. My heart was crushed,” Ethelyn Ross said.
The officers involved knew there was something wrong. WFAA obtained video from inside the squad car that shows Sr. Cpl. Larry Moody talking to supervisors.
"I think her last heartbeat was when we got her out of the car,” Moody said.
Moody received only a written reprimand for his actions, officials said. Another officer took a job with another police department while under investigation.
Dallas police claim they released the videos to be transparent, but they were forced to release them after WFAA filed multiple requests since July. They released the videos to WFAA an hour before they put out a news release with the videos.
The Dallas police command staff has known the videos existed for months, yet never released the tapes until WFAA filed the requests and pushed for their release.
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