Inside the Jail Takeover: Families Reveal How Two Inmates Allegedly Risked Their Lives to Save Detention Officers
BERTIE COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – Two mothers of inmates at the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail are speaking out about last week’s nine-hour takeover, saying their sons worked together to free detention officers who had been locked in a holding cell by other inmates.
Latoya Brimley and Juanita Keener say their sons, Dominique Brimley and Barshim Keener, were not involved in the takeover.
Instead, they say the two inmates, among a few others, found keys and unlocked three detention officers from a cell, forming a circle around officers to escort them to safety.
Dominique Brimley, on a limited 15 minute call with WITN, described waking up to the scene unfolding around him.
“I just woke up to chaos,” he said.
His mother, Latoya Brimley, said her son recognized one of the officers as the sister of his former high school coach.
“He called me around 5:15 that morning and he was just explaining to me about what was going on far as he thought that the inmates may be trying to escape. He was just saying he wasn’t going to get involved in it, so I’m assuming he stepped out and he saw Ms. Moore and that was his high school coach’s sister, so he said she looked at him and she was crying and she said ‘Dominique help me, Dominique help me,’” Latoya Brimley said.
Brimley says after he and others found the key, they formed a circle around guards and walked them to the front door.
“It started off with the three of us, my home boy went and got a couple of his friends and I went and got a couple of mine and we just came together and came up with a plan,” he said. “We formed a circle around them, and walked them to the front of the door, well basically ran them to the front door.”
Juanita Keener said her son, Barshim Keener had also helped, and was injured in the process.
“He said when they went to go help the officers, I guess whoever was involved in this stuff they were fighting him, he got cut three times on his arm,” she said.
Barshim Keener, on a call with WITN, described his injuries and the treatment he received.
“I got cut on my left forearm, three slashes, one is deep. The only thing they did was they said it’s a little mosquito bite, it ain’t nothing; they just gave me some band aids and told me to treat it myself,” he said.
Keener said inmates were transferred to a prison following the takeover, where she says her son still did not receive proper care.
“I asked him did they get medical treatment, he said they did not get medical treatment, they all just got transferred to the prison and when they got there, they only put a band aid on the three wounds. They just sent them to the prison and just I guess forgot about them,” she said.
Both mothers say they have reached out to Bertie County commissioners and jail administrators but have not received any responses.
Keener said her son’s actions were not acknowledged after the takeover.
“When I looked at the news, they did not recognize the inmates that helped these officers in the situation. But I told my son, I said well, it’s a blessing that you did help them because it could’ve escalated to something else. All y’all could’ve got killed in there,” she said.
Brimley said she was proud of her son’s decision to act.
“It makes me feel good to know that my son risked his life to help somebody else in a situation regardless of his circumstances, of being in jail and how people look at you a different way, he still took it upon himself to help,” she said.
The inmates at the jail during the takeover have since been moved to state prisons.
The takeover is now under investigation by the SBI.
No information from the Bertie or Martin County Sheriff’s Offices or SBI has been released at this time.
