*Days after being found guilty of sexuallly assaulting several African American women, former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw is reportedly under suicide watch in jail.
According to KFOR-TV, Holtzclaw, a convicted rapist, was found guilty on Thursday (Dec. 10) of 18 out of the 36 charges he faced, including four counts of rape in the first degree and four counts of forced oral sodomy. By Friday (Dec. 11), he was under suicide watch in the Oklahoma County jail, where he awaits formal sentencing.
The ruling is the latest development in the case, which found prosecutors accusing Holtzclaw of selecting his victims, who were all black women, based on their backgrounds and criminal history. Prosecutors attributed Holzclaw’s method of picking his victims to his belief that their drug or prostitution records would prevent him from facing any allegations against him.
As it stands now, Holtzclaw faces some 263 years in prison for his crimes.
“We’re going to ask the judge to make sure that this defendant never sees the light of day,” District Attorney David Prater said, according to Fox 6 Now. “And we’re going to ask him to run consecutive, every count.”
Taking note of the reaction of the Oklahoma City Police Department, the channel reports that it was “satisfied” with the jury’s decision, adding that “justice was served.”
As for Holtzclaw’s current status, Sheriff John Whetsel revealed that a deputy or detention officer is sitting outside Holzclaw’s cell to monitor him.
Despite the court’s decision, there was no celebration from Oklahoma City NAACP President Garland Pruitt. Fox 6 Now points out that Pruitt is waiting for Holtzclaw’s actual sentencing in January before declaring that justice has been served as he noted that “the system has a reputation of not being fair.”
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