"Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me..”
A Filipino American family in Antioch, California filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the local police department claiming their son died after an officer knelt on his neck for almost five minutes.
Angelo Quinto, 30, a Navy veteran who was born in the Philippines, was suffering from a mental health crisis on the night of December 23, 2020, prompting his sister to call 911 for help.
His sister, Isabella Collins, called 911 for help, and police arrived after 11 p.m. to find his mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins, embracing him on the floor, according to a report compiled by the family’s private investigator, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A cellphone video shot from his mother, presented by the family’s attorney, shows police officers turning her handcuffed son onto his back on her bedroom floor. Blood covered his mouth and his body was unresponsive. He was inside a white tarp bag and was moved out of the room.
Angelo's mother said his son pleaded for his life with the police twice.
Quinto-Collins said an officer pinned and subdued him with a knee at the back of his neck for nearly five minutes, while another officer held him by the legs, before she recorded the video.
Quinto did not regain consciousness and was taken by an ambulance. Three days later, he died at Sutter Delta Medical Center.
His family said his behavior changed after suffering a head injury in an apparent assault last year and began suffering bouts of paranoia and anxiety.
Last May, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, also died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes that was captured on video. His death led to nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism.