The indictment on Tuesday Sgt. Javier Esqueda by a grand jury in Kendall County, claims that he used a laptop in his vehicle to view a video of Eric Lurry’s death.
Lurry, 37, died in January while traveling in a police vehicle after being arrested at the scene of an alleged drug trade. The Will County coroner’s office considered his death an accident due to heroin, fentanyl and cocaine poisoning.
RELATED: Joliet Police Release New Video Showing Eric Lurry’s Arrest
Esqueda released a video showing policemen beating and cursing Lurry before his death. Prosecutors determined that there was no police misconduct. Joliet’s police ended up posting three hours of video related to Lurry’s arrest.
Lurry’s wife, Nicole, filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Joliet and four policemen, claiming that they were involved in “intentional and irresponsible acts and reckless conduct” that led to the death of her husband.
Lack of questioned audio in Joliet’s newly released police videos about Eric Lurry’s death
“You arrest the sergeant for doing the right thing, but you don’t arrest the police for doing the wrong thing,” said Nicole Lurry, Eric Lurry’s widow.
RELATED: Wife of a man who died in police custody of Joliet says the dashcam video shows that police officers contributed to his death
While Joliet is in Will County, prosecutors say Esqueda’s alleged misconduct occurred in neighboring Kendall County. Esqueda’s lawyer, Jeff Tomczak, filed a motion on October 21 to close the case, arguing that no action by his client took place in that county.
RELATED: Rally Demands Justice for Eric Lurry, Man Who Died in Joliet’s Police Custody
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
WLS-TV contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2021 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.