Family Claims Inmate Was Paralyzed During Fight With OK County Jail Staff

An Oklahoma County Jail inmate's family says correctional officers assaulted their loved one so badly, he couldn't move.

Only on News 9, the family says that inmate had surgery Thursday at OU Medical Center.

This family says what's most upsetting about all of this is they were told 33-year-old Marcus Thurman was refused medical attention for nearly two days.

Right now, he is paralyzed and the family is trying to figure out what happened inside the county jail, and why.

According to court records, just before noon Saturday, Thurman and 18-year-old McKenzie Warrior were arrested at a hotel off S. Prospect in Oklahoma City.  

The two were taken by OCPD to the Oklahoma County Jail, but what happened after that now has Thurman's family outraged. 

“You already had him locked up in handcuffs, why would you want to beat him, why would you want to hurt him like that,” said Thurman’s grandmother, Rose Hill.

Hill got a phone call Monday evening from a woman who told her she was the mother of another inmate in the county jail.

“They had to take him to the hospital and he can’t move his body,” said Hill.

She says she couldn't get a straight answer from jail staff.

“And they claimed he was okay,” said Thurman’s uncle, Ottice Davis.

It wasn't until Wednesday, five days after the alleged incident when her grandson explained from a hospital bed what happened.

Thurman told family members his neck was broken during a fight with five county correctional officers in front of least 20 other inmates.

“There’s nothing you can say to justify that kind of behavior,” said Davis. “There’s a process in everything, you know what I mean. They’re not judge, jury and execution.”

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's office says it is aware of the incident and is investigating.

News 9 has requested a copy of the surveillance video inside the jail.