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About John "Greg" Laughon
John was born on March 9, 1967 in Miami, Florida. He is 41 years old. He currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his mother. John owns his own business called
Anchor It. John and his employees spent their work week to making homes, in Jacksonville, Florida, safer for hurricanes. John spent his weekends barbequing, riding ATVs, surfing, fishing, or visiting family in South Florida.
John was, basically, a healthily child, but after an auto accident, when he was 19 years old, he began having seizures. He has been taking medications, for seizures, for many years. He still is. He also smoked Marijuana which more than likely helped with breakthrough seizures.
In November 2004, John was served for a search warrant, to search his room, at his mother's home. He was arrested for possession of Marijuana. At his trial he was sentenced to 6 months, 5 months with gain time. Evidence of his seizures and necessary medications was entered into the court. He was given approximately 2 months to put money away to pay his bills and he turned himself into the jail at the end of January 2005.
On February 22, 2005, at approximately 3:00 a.m., Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Correctional Officers transported John to Shands Hospital in Jacksonville by jail van. They did not call for a rescue. When he arrived at the hospital, the guards put him in the police holding area, in the hospital, they did not seek medical attention for him. A nurse passing by the police holding area saw John was not breathing, had no pulse and was cold to the touch. He was basically dead. The nurse began CPR and called for help. By law, they have to go through all three stages in CPR, before they can pronounce someone legally dead. On the third and final round of CPR. John began to breath. They put him on life support and checked him over from head to toe. He had 11 broken ribs in his back, collapsed lungs, both eyes blackened, lumps on his head and bruises from head to toes. He was 37 years old at the time.
At about 11:00 a.m., the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reported to the media that John was taken to Shands Hospital, he had been in a “scuffle†with guards and he was transported to Shands for his mental state, “not for injuries†he received from the guards. They also, claimed “he had no outward signs of visible injuries.†When I saw him, it was about 12 hours after he arrived at Shands, he had a sheet over him up to his neck, a neck brace, full life support, and bruises everywhere I could see. There is a picture taken the next day in my photos. Does it look like he had no injuries?
When John was moved from trauma to ICU we were able to see the extent of injuries since nurses uncovered him when we were in the room. He had bruises that were 1-2 inches wide and up to 18 inches long all over his back. I saw bruises everywhere including on his toes. He had cuts all the way around his wrists and ankles about an inch wide, possibly from the straps of the restraint chair they claimed to have strapped him into. He also had scrapes on his knees. Black eyes, the whites were blood red. His face was swollen beyond recognition and a huge lump on his head.
He spent 15 months at Shands in Jacksonville. Three months of this time was under guard, since he was technically an inmate still. He had a security guard 24 hours a days, 7 days a week. At midnight, on the day, he would have been released the guards were removed from his room and we heard no more from JSO. After 15 months in the hospital, he was released and came home to our mother’s home. Now, he spends his days lying in a hospital bed, in his mother's home, with his every need taken care of our Mom, with the help of myself and our sister.
It has been suggested by several people, including a few people, in the medical field, that Marijuana was helpful in controlling John's seizures. I support legalizing Marijuana, for medical use. It should be a controlled substance, not abused. You should not drive while under the influence! Always be safe!
I posted news articles in the order they happened. I dated them the days they were published so it will be easier to follow. I am sure some of them are no longer available, on the internet, but I have them saved on blogger. I posted the links whenever possible, and included copyright and author credits. I am copying my blog over to Myspace hoping to reach a wider audience, and maybe find a witness willing to come forward to testify against the guards, jail, sheriff's officers and medical staff at the Duval County Jail. Jacksonville Sheriff Officers and Jacksonville Sheriff Officers Correctional Officers have been getting away with abuse and murder for too long. If they were beating animals, they would be punished, why aren't they being punished for beating and killing people like John Laughon? Because they are inmates? Inmates are human too! They deserve proper care and medical attention!
In many of the articles the media refers to JSO, they are referring to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Offers.
I am begging you, if you feel you have any information, that could help John Laughon's case, contact his attorney Sean Cronin in Jacksonville, Florida.
Cronin & Maxwell, LLC
2223 Oak St
Jacksonville, FL 32204
904-388-9555 or 888-362-0640
Thank you in advance! Our family truly appreciates it!
