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In life, Raymond K. Smoot was typical of the drug addicts on Baltimore's streets - he tried heroin at age 12, was arrested 20 times and used nearly as many aliases.
The 51-year-old frequented a Fells Point homeless shelter, struggled with hepatitis C and diabetes, and repeatedly vowed to his family that he would shake his demon, drugs.
Family members say they wanted to help, and that's why they didn't immediately bail him out of jail after his most recent arrest. They wanted to teach him a lesson.
With his death last weekend, Smoot has become the human face of the problems at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center, the overcrowded facility where he died after a fight with correctional officers. Hospital pictures show his swollen, purple head.
"I hadn't seen my father since I was 5, and the very next time I saw him was when I saw the picture on TV and saw his face," said Sharrell Jackson, Smoot's 25-year-old daughter.
Smoot's life was a cycle of drug addiction, crime, imprisonment and illness, according to records and interviews with friends and relatives. He was never married but had four children with three women. He spent a combined 480 days in city jails, as well as stints in state prisons and under supervised probation, records show.
He became a familiar face at many correctional facilities, known to officers for being disruptive.
Smoot was last arrested about 5 a.m. May 3 in the 300 block of St. Paul St., near Mercy Hospital, records show. He was charged with failing to appear in court last fall on a summons issued after he was accused of stealing a computer from Baltimore City Community College.
In the weeks before the arrest, Smoot had been living with a sister in Randallstown, relatives said. But friends said Smoot might have spent his last night of freedom in a park near the hospital - his property, confiscated by the jail, included a blue jacket, a black backpack, a green suitcase stuffed with clothing, and medication, records show.
The man who has given police such names as Reginald Keyes, Ronald Manning and Ronald Williams wasn't carrying identification.
He was processed into Central Booking and ordered held on $1,500 bail - meaning that he needed $150 to walk free.
He didn't have it, so he contacted his family in a search for the cash. James Smoot, his older brother, said he was going to wait until May 16 to post bail.
But the night of May 14, Smoot got into a melee with correctional officers after he refused to return to his cell.
Two correctional officers who witnessed the fatal beating told investigators that Smoot started the brawl by hitting an officer and was stomped, kicked and punched in retaliation, according to accounts received by The Sun. A lawyer for Smoot's family said that other witnesses dispute whether Smoot struck an officer.
Incident's impact
His death - ruled a homicide by Maryland's medical examiner - prompted state and federal investigations that could lead to criminal charges against one or more officers. Six correctional officers have been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation. The incident has increased public pressure on a state-run facility that has been besieged by criticism for its crowding, inefficiency and alleged inhumane conditions.
Smoot's death should help bring about changes to improve conditions at Central Booking, said Tammy M. Brown, executive director of the city's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
"I think [Smoot's death] is even more reason to try to be diligent and have these changes made," she said.
After a funeral for Smoot yesterday, the family lawyer, A. Dwight Pettit, said he had notified the state of the relatives' intent to sue. "I think [Smoot] will have a legacy of having a major impact, of some kind of reformation of the system," Pettit said.
The 51-year-old frequented a Fells Point homeless shelter, struggled with hepatitis C and diabetes, and repeatedly vowed to his family that he would shake his demon, drugs.
Family members say they wanted to help, and that's why they didn't immediately bail him out of jail after his most recent arrest. They wanted to teach him a lesson.
With his death last weekend, Smoot has become the human face of the problems at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center, the overcrowded facility where he died after a fight with correctional officers. Hospital pictures show his swollen, purple head.
"I hadn't seen my father since I was 5, and the very next time I saw him was when I saw the picture on TV and saw his face," said Sharrell Jackson, Smoot's 25-year-old daughter.
Smoot's life was a cycle of drug addiction, crime, imprisonment and illness, according to records and interviews with friends and relatives. He was never married but had four children with three women. He spent a combined 480 days in city jails, as well as stints in state prisons and under supervised probation, records show.
He became a familiar face at many correctional facilities, known to officers for being disruptive.
Smoot was last arrested about 5 a.m. May 3 in the 300 block of St. Paul St., near Mercy Hospital, records show. He was charged with failing to appear in court last fall on a summons issued after he was accused of stealing a computer from Baltimore City Community College.
In the weeks before the arrest, Smoot had been living with a sister in Randallstown, relatives said. But friends said Smoot might have spent his last night of freedom in a park near the hospital - his property, confiscated by the jail, included a blue jacket, a black backpack, a green suitcase stuffed with clothing, and medication, records show.
The man who has given police such names as Reginald Keyes, Ronald Manning and Ronald Williams wasn't carrying identification.
He was processed into Central Booking and ordered held on $1,500 bail - meaning that he needed $150 to walk free.
He didn't have it, so he contacted his family in a search for the cash. James Smoot, his older brother, said he was going to wait until May 16 to post bail.
But the night of May 14, Smoot got into a melee with correctional officers after he refused to return to his cell.
Two correctional officers who witnessed the fatal beating told investigators that Smoot started the brawl by hitting an officer and was stomped, kicked and punched in retaliation, according to accounts received by The Sun. A lawyer for Smoot's family said that other witnesses dispute whether Smoot struck an officer.
Smoot's death should help bring about changes to improve conditions at Central Booking, said Tammy M. Brown, executive director of the city's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.
"I think [Smoot's death] is even more reason to try to be diligent and have these changes made," she said.
After a funeral for Smoot yesterday, the family lawyer, A. Dwight Pettit, said he had notified the state of the relatives' intent to sue. "I think [Smoot] will have a legacy of having a major impact, of some kind of reformation of the system," Pettit said.
