Ex Detroit Lion Stanley Wilson Jr. died in custody. His mom’s weekend vigil remembers him and others like him
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In a brutal bit of irony, in-custody deaths in Los Angeles were brought to the forefront by a 2023 case in which neither the County Sheriff’s Department or county hospitals would acknowledge that an inmate was in their custody when he died.
Stanley Wilson Jr., a Stanford graduate and former NFL defensive back with the Detroit Lions, died either before, during or after he was transported from the downtown Twin Towers Correctional Facility to the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk on Feb. 1, 2023. It was 10 months after he had been arrested for entering a home in the Hollywood Hills during a psychotic break.
The Sheriff’s Department says Wilson died at the hospital. The hospital says he was already dead when he arrived. Nobody will take responsibility. What we do know is he was heavily medicated. Surveillance cameras weren’t operating. His body was bruised.
Frustrated with the lack of answers, Wilson’s parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department, the Department of State Hospitals and L.A. County in September, seeking $45 million. Last month they amended their complaint, refiling it in L.A. Superior Court after a federal judge ruled the case is a California state matter.
Trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 8. John Carpenter, the lawyer representing Wilson’s parents, Pulane Lucas and Stanley Wilson Sr., on Wednesday said, “in light of the slow rolling of discovery, that date probably won’t stick.”
What does a grieving parent do in the interim? Lucas organizes protests and other events to increase awareness of in-custody deaths. She writes legislators. She is, in Carpenter’s words, “the embodiment of a mother’s power. Mothers, boy oh boy, they are unstoppable.”
Like his father, Stanley Wilson Jr. played in the NFL and battled drug use and mental illness. The father found redemption. But could anything save the son?
Lucas, who holds a PhD in public policy from Virginia Commonwealth University and three master’s degrees from Harvard, lives in Virginia, where she is president and CEO of Policy Pathways Inc., a firm that trains teens and young adults who desire to become leaders in public policy, public administration and international affairs.
But this Mother’s Day weekend she will be in L.A., camped on the lawn in front of the Men’s Central Jail along with other parents whose children died while in custody. The protest is called Stand With Mothers and will begin with a rally at 3 p.m. Saturday and conclude with a “spiritual event” at 10:30 a.m. Sunday after spending the night.
This is the second year in a row the event has taken place. About a dozen parents turned out and Lucas expects more this year.
“We write as mothers who carry the unimaginable pain of having lost our children while they were in custody,” the statement from the mothers says. “As we approach the Second Annual Mother’s Day Action Weekend — a time that holds both deep sorrow and a powerful sense of solidarity — we were looking forward to honoring our children’s memories together: with a rally, sleepover, and Mother’s Day Service all held on the premises outside the jail where our children’s lives were taken.
“The symbolism of sleeping on the ground — within eyesight of the same buildings where our children took their last breaths yet under the same sky our children were denied access to see — is not just a gesture without impact. It is an act of remembrance, resistance, and love that matters deeply to us.
“As mothers, this gathering is for our children. For our healing. And for the truth.”
Last year’s protest was peaceful despite the presence of sheriff’s deputies in riot gear who were anticipating pro-Palestinian protests across L.A. Lucas raised the mothers’ concerns, speaking with Assistant Deputy Sheriff Sergio Aloma.
“He was very kind and told us they would fall back,” Lucas said. “We slept overnight in tents and he said nobody would bother us. They checked on us and asked if we wanted food and water.
“It was a wonderful weekend, a beautiful time and we are so looking forward to it again.”
The inmate population is down, but the death rate in Los Angeles County jails is the highest it’s been in at least 15 years. Why?
Among the mothers joining Lucas will be Terry Lovett, whose 27-year-old son, Jalani, died in 2021 while in solitary confinement at the Men’s Central Jail. The county coroner’s autopsy report said Lovett’s death was “accidental” and that he had fentanyl and heroin in his system, noting that he had a bruise on his neck and abrasions on his arms, but “no external trauma” or “life-threatening injuries.”
Terry Lovett has questions, the primary one being, how did her son access fentanyl while in solitary confinement with interaction only with guards? Civil rights lawyer Christian Contreras filed a claim against the county on behalf of the family in January 2022 — the first step toward a lawsuit — but Lovett said she hasn’t followed through because she would need an independent autopsy conducted and she can’t afford it.
“I’m looking forward to the vigil and spending time with the other mothers,” she said. “It’s comforting. We all share the frustrations and heartbreak of our children dying under suspicious circumstances, and we all need to keep seeking answers.”
Lucas can rattle off her unanswered questions about Stanley Wilson’s death. A judge found him unfit to stand trial because of his deteriorating mental health in November 2022, and ordered him to be treated at Metropolitan State Hospital. Yet he was not transferred until three months later, the day he died.
Sheriff’s Department records show Wilson was on three anti-psychotic medications. Lucas contends that two of them shouldn’t be administered together because they cause anxiety and can lead to a pulmonary embolism, which is what Wilson’s autopsy determined was his cause of death.
As her lawsuit inches toward a trial, she remains dedicated to making sure the voices of parents of inmates who died in custody are heard. Nineteen inmates have died in the custody of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department so far in 2025.
“I have committed my life to initiatives related to Stanley’s life and death that can enlighten and support others and save lives,” Lucas said. “As mothers, we find strength in coming together and advocating for our children.
“We are more than friends. We love each other. We are like sister mothers in solidarity.”
As Jay D. Aronson and Dr. Roger A. Mitchell explore in their recent book ‘Death in Custody,’ that lack of data is a national problem.
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