Grieving relatives of Kylen English said they do not believe the 20-year-old threw himself off the Salem Avenue Bridge on July 16 while he was in police custody.
The Dayton Police Department has released in-car audio of the incident during which English is heard to say to an officer driving him from Grandview Hospital to the Montgomery County Jail: “Do you believe you go to heaven if you kill yourself?”
Seconds later — with the sound of what police said was English banging his head against the cruiser’s back window — English said, “I want to die.”
Chief Richard Biehl said English’s mother told police her son had a history of depression and self-harming behavior.
On Tuesday evening, eight of English’s aunts and cousins gathered in a house on Athens Avenue to a remember a happy young man they said was defamed by the media.
They said they saw no signs of depression or suicidal tendencies in the young man, and they don’t believe the police department’s explanation of events.
“He was not violent; he was not angry. That’s not the person we knew,” said Marsha English, an aunt. They said he was raised by the whole family of aunts and his grandmother.
Jail surveillance video shows Kylen English, handcuffed with his hands behind his back, calmly standing in the sally port on the evening of July 16. In the grainy stop-action video, English is seen collapsed on the floor, part of his body hidden by a shelf.
The family believes an officer used a Taser on him, a charge Biehl said made no sense.
According to police, English hurled himself head-first into the sally port’s cinder-block wall. The video, which captures an image every 1 second to 1½ seconds, does not show that.
All Tasers issued to Dayton officers contain an imbedded computer chip that records the usage of the weapon, including the date and length of time. At the request of the Dayton Daily News, Biehl produced a printout of the firing data for the officer’s Taser.
It was used once July 16, at 3:49 p.m. for 2 seconds. Biehl said that would have been a test of the weapon at roll call. Checking the day prior, the Taser was fired once at 3:51 p.m.
Jail policy prohibits officers from bringing their sidearms and Tasers into the jail. On the video, the officer is seen opening the trunk and appears to place his weapon or weapons inside. Video inside the jail shows the officer’s firearm holster empty, but does not provide a clear view of his Taser holster.
English was arrested after a distraught 55-year-old woman called 911 about 7:30 p.m. July 16 to report that English was trying to kick down her door. She said English was the boyfriend of her 16-year-old niece and the woman had been sheltering her niece from English.
Surveillance video in the apartment hallway showed English violently kicking and pounding on the door.
Biehl has said English injured himself in the sally port to such an extent that the jail would not accept him. He was taken to Grandview Hospital and medically cleared.
While being transported back to the jail, police said the 6-foot, 210-pound English, who was handcuffed, but not belted to his seat, dove out the broken window, jumped off the bridge to his death.
The county coroner’s office initial findings were that English committed suicide. The office is awaiting the results of toxicology tests. The internal investigation is expected to take several weeks.
* * * * *
Timeline: The last day of Kylen English’s life
Editor’s note: This is a chronology of the events leading up to the death of Kylen English. It was constructed from various interviews, police statements, reports, transcripts and videos.
7:30 p.m.
Dayton Police Officers Travis Salyer and Alex Magill are dispatched to 206 Yale Ave. on a 911 call about a burglary in progress. The caller states a black male tried to kick in her apartment door. The caller told police that English was the boyfriend of her 16-year-old niece, whom the caller, the girl’s aunt, was sheltering after English allegedly assaulted during the winter.
Unknown time
Magill locates English at 1358 Harvard Blvd. Magill arrests English and places him in the back of a police cruiser without incident.
8:23 p.m.
Magill transports English to the Montgomery County Jail. While being escorted into the jail, English hits his head against the wall. Jail medics say English’s pupils weren’t responding properly. Staff at the jail refuses to take English due to the possible injuries and tells Magill to take him to the hospital.
8:45 p.m.
Magill tells dispatch, “This gentlemen I just brought to jail actually just got refused. I’m going to be transporting him to Grandview Hospital for treatment of his injuries.”
9:35 p.m.
English arrives at the hospital. He is evaluated and medically cleared. Before the trip back to the jail, English says, “Can I get a phone call please?” Magill responds, “Yeah, give me just a minute.”
9:36:07 p.m.
Magill leaves hospital to return English to jail. “537 Dispatch. Transporting adult male to jail, again. Currently 67A,” Magill says over the police radio.
9:36:16 p.m.
Magill says, “Kylen, just so you know, if you start acting goofy again, it’s going to be on camera this time.”
9:36:39 p.m.
Magill says, “I’d hate for you to have to pay for that medical bill.”
9:36:44 p.m.
English says, “Do you believe you go to heaven if you kill yourself?”
9:37:54 p.m.
Magill says, “Depends on what you believe in.”
9:37:57 p.m.
First sound indicating English is hitting the window with his head, banging noises begin.
9:37:59 p.m.
Magill says, “Hey, partner.” He then begins to pull over.
English says, “I wanna die” and banging noises are heard.
9:38:03 p.m.
The cruiser stops just as glass from the window shatters.
9:38:09 p.m.
Magill shouts “Holy (expletive).”
9:38:11 p.m.
Magill calls dispatch.
Magill: “537 dispatch, need crews on Salem Street bridge.”
Magill: “Medic, my guy just jumped out my car window and hooked over the bridge.”
Magill: “On Salem Street Bridge, uh just north. I’m sorry, just north of Robert. It’s going to be on the west side of the river. I’m sorry, east side of the river.”
Dispatch: “Is he going to be in the water?”
Magill: “No, he’s on the rocks.”
Dispatch: “OK, we’re going to get someone down here on the bike path. On the east side of the river right under the bridge.”
Magill: “The crews that are responding here, try and get someone on the bike path, if you can. I’m not sure where you get on. Try to drive down towards the south, north ... however you get on.”
9:39:20 p.m.
Magill: “537 dispatch. Do you have medics started this way?”
9:40:28 p.m.
Other officers arrive on the scene.
Magill says, “He head-dove out of the cruiser while in the middle of driving, got up again and jumped over the bridge like a no-hand swan dive. My camera’s on.”
9:40:38 p.m.
Magill says, “I had just ... I cuffed behind his back ... BAM, BAM, he jumps out ... Swan-dives over the bridge.”
9:40:38 p.m.
Magill says, “He’s right here, he’s breathing ... kind of.”
9:40:45 p.m.
Police Lt. Kim Hill arrives on the scene.
9:40:59 p.m.
Magill says, “I mean, no hesitation. None.”
10:18 p.m.
English arrives in the emergency room of Miami Valley Hospital.
10:21 p.m.
English is pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital.
Kylen was an aspiring singer and YouTube sensation...
Kylen was an aspiring singer and YouTube sensation...
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