According to reports, a Florida man consumed a cup full of bleach after receiving his guilty verdict.
Jermaine Bell, 38, pulled a gun on employees at Millennium Engine Plating while disguised as a courier in December 2018, and since the armed robbery, Bell has spent more than three years in custody, Fox News.
Bell was observed drinking bleach out of a disposable white cup shortly after the jury had read the verdict. According to Local 10, the video was published.
According to the outlet, a police officer approached Bell holding a garbage can. He tried to get him to pour the liquid out, but Bell kept drinking until he was seated down.
Immediately after drinking the bleach, Bell became very visibly ill and was transported out of the courtroom on a stretcher and taken to the hospital for treatment, according to the published reports.
According to media reports, Bell appears to be in stable health. His family remains unsure how Bell was able get bleach into the courtroom.
“I see him drinking something that’s not right,” Local 10 heard from Reverend Jerome Starling about his distant cousin Bell.
“His attorneys are letting him drink it. Corrections letting him drink it. All of a sudden I see him collapse. And I said ‘how could this happen.’”
Starling stated to the outlet that accountability must be taken for the events in courtroom.
According to Local 10, a cousin of Bell’s recorded the incident and told the outlet that she immediately tried to save him.
“I was the only one like that jumped up and tried to get him help,” According to her, the outlet was informed. “[It’s] very emotional for the whole family. We thought we were going to lose Jermaine that day.”
The incident is being investigated by the Miami-Dade County Corrections as well as the Miami-Dade Police, according to reports.