Civil Rights leaders in Calhoun County say there was no wrongdoing in death of man in Oxford city jail

 Civil rights activists from Calhoun County joined Oxford police Wednesday for a press conference to clarify what they said was a misunderstanding within the black community about the June death of a man in Oxford police custody.  32 year old Melvin Mathews,  of Talladega, died June 7 at the Oxford City Jail shortly after his arrest on a public intoxication charge.  Calhoun County’s coroner Pat Brown has said Mathews died from drug-related causes. The officials gathered Wednesday said they wanted to quash rumors to the contrary.

David Baker, president of the Calhoun County chapter of the NAACP, said he had recently received a call from the national NAACP organization that a black man may have been beaten to death in custody of Oxford police in June. Following up on that, Baker contacted Oxford police and reviewed video and audio of Oxford police arresting Mathews the morning of June 7.

Mathews died inside the jail just minutes after being brought inside, according to those recordings, .

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown said that autopsy results showed Mathews died from combined drug intoxication. A toxicology report found traces of the drugs hydrocodone and bath salts, a synthetic drug known to cause hallucinations and aggression in users, were found in his blood. Mathews also had nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, according to the report.

After reviewing the video and audio, which recorded Mathews from the time of his arrest until being carried out of the jail by paramedics, Baker said he found no evidence of any wrongdoing by police.

But Baker said That fact hasn’t stopped many in the black community from spreading rumors of police abuse.

Baker said that Matthews was treated with respect and dignity by the Oxford police.

The Rev. Freddy Rimpsey, a local civil rights advocate, said the group gathered with him Wednesday might be criticized by some members in the community “who seem to want to divide us” but that they felt the need to speak out about what they know to be the truth about the incident to quell public unrest.