Keishon D. Thomas's Death: Died in Police Custody After Swallowing Drugs Found During a Routine Stop

In 2022, Keishon Thomas, a Milwaukee resident, was arrested after a traffic stop for a moving violation. 

What began as a routine arrest quickly turned into a major tragedy.

Keishon Thomas, 20, died that day in a holding cell at Milwaukee Police Department District 5. 

His sudden death eventually led to criminal charges against two officers. 

It also triggered a dramatic act of retaliation by one of his very good friends.

Keishon D. Thomas

The events that led to Keishon Thomas's death started in the early hours of February 23, 2022.

This was after Milwaukee police officers pulled him over for a traffic violation. 

During the stop, officers discovered an outstanding bench warrant for theft that had been issued two years earlier.

Keishon Thomas complied with the officers and was taken into custody without resistance.

Once they got to the station, Thomas swallowed a white substance right in front of the officers, and it was all caught on their body camera.

When the officer asked him what he swallowed, he replied "I ate the little, the little smoke I had." 

Security cameras also recorded him pulling something else from his pocket and swallowing it.

Keishon D. Thomas

While being booked, Keishon Thomas told the officers he had taken drugs before the traffic stop and was starting to feel sick.

He specifically said that he had taken a combination of cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy. 

Despite this information, the officers still went ahead and booked Keishon Thomas.

Throughout the booking process, he began to show signs of distress, including sweating and dry heaving. 

One officer offered to take Thomas to the hospital for medical care multiple times but he declined.

He was eventually placed in a holding cell around 3 a.m.

Sadly, after Keishon Thomas was placed in the cell, his condition worsened. 

At approximately 6 p.m., during a routine cell check, an officer discovered Thomas unresponsive. 

Emergency personnel were immediately called, and officers attempted life-saving measures. 

Despite their efforts, paramedics pronounced Thomas dead in the cell shortly thereafter. 

His cause of death was later confirmed to be acute mixed drug intoxication, resulting from the substances he had swallowed earlier that day.

The moment Keishon D. Thomas was found dead

Family Demands Justice 

Keishon Thomas’s death went unnoticed for nearly 16 hours, until around 6 p.m.

The officers at the station claimed they didn’t notice his condition had gotten worse.

Thomas’s family was heartbroken by the news and asked to see the CCTV footage from that night, which was later shared with the public.

There were noticeable time gaps in the video footage, which raised a lot of questions and concerns about what really happened.

However, the police claimed the missing footage was due to a technical issue

It was also revealed that the police had changed the number of required cell checks to make it seem like they had done multiple checks before 6 p.m. 

“We don’t know how many cell checks were done or what really happened in those 15 hours,” stated Jennifer Garcia, Thomas’s cousin.

She expressed the family’s frustration over lack of transparency.

In the days following Keishon Thomas’s death, tensions escalated to violence. 

On February 28, 2022, Darreon Parker-Bell, a close friend of Thomas, entered the station where his friend had died and started firing multiple shots.

He later described the shooting as an act of retaliation against the perceived injustice. 

Parker-Bell had initially gone to the station to ask for information about Thomas's death, but when he didn't get his answers, he opened fire.

Parker-Bell fled on foot but he was eventually apprehended.

Following his arrest, Parker-Bell was found not guilty because of mental disease or defect and was committed to a mental institution for a 30-year term.

Darreon Parker-Bell

The investigation into Thomas's death resulted in criminal charges against two Milwaukee police officers. 

Officer Donald Krueger, 49, faced a felony charge for abuse of a resident in a penal facility.

He is accused of failing to provide medical assistance despite clear signs of Thomas’s distress. 

Donald Krueger pleaded no contest and he was fined $5,000

Officer Marco Lopez, 40, was charged with misdemeanor misconduct in office for falsifying cell check logs.

He falsely reported that he conducted ten checks but CCTV footage showed he didn't conduct any checks.

Former Officer Marco pleaded guilty to a felony count of misconduct in public office and received two years of probation.

Three misdemeanor counts were also part of his plea deal

See the full video from that night here.

The tragic death of Keishon D. Thomas has left a deep scar on his family, friends, and community.

It also raised critical questions about police accountability and inmate care. 

The subsequent shocking response by his friend highlights the intense emotions and unrest caused by perceived failures in the system. 

In another case, a babysitter fatally assaulted a 17-month-old who was left on her care. See more details here.

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