SALT LAKE CITY — Jason Lloyd’s casket was closed at his funeral back in August.
“When Jason passed away, we weren’t able to have an open casket, we weren’t able to have that closure that you usually get when a loved one passes. And now our closure is seeing him on a body cam video in a tent being treated that way,” Lloyd's sister Heather Fisher said through tears.
The Salt Lake City Police Department released body cam footage on Friday of some employees mishandling the dead body of Lloyd, 47, who was unhoused.
“He was homeless, but he was still loved,” Fisher said. “He had a family and he was still very deeply cared for. And they treated him horribly.”
Now, Lloyd's family is grieving all over again.
“We’re frustrated because this investigation has been going on since August and as his family, we had no idea. We had no idea he was treated poorly. We had no idea he was disrespected,” Fisher said. “We feel like we’re grieving all over again.”
Body cam footage shows officers laughing as they used a box cutter to slice through blisters on Lloyd’s skin. The department placed seven employees on leave after they found out what happened to his body.
VIDEO BELOW: SLCPD officers disciplined for using box cutter on dead homeless man's body
Lloyd's family said he was a father of two. He carried 8x10 photos of his kids everywhere he went.
“He loved his children,” said Cassi Henwood, Lloyd’s mother. “I think his greatest joy was being a father.”
His family said he also struggled with a mental illness his entire life.
“We had done halfway houses, the state hospital stays, different programs through Valley Behavioral Health, and housing,” Fisher said. “There just aren’t enough places for people with mental illness. He wanted to be free. He didn’t want to be locked up somewhere.”
The 47-year-old grew up bull riding and loved animals.
“Homeless or not, he was somebody’s son, brother, child, cousin, uncle, nephew. He was important to us. He mattered. And I feel like they treated him like nothing,” Fisher said. “And I have to wonder if he wasn’t homeless, had that not happened.”
