Fearing cop cover-up, Paterson mom paying for son’s autopsy

PATERSON — The mother of Jameek Lowery, the man who died in the hospital two days after showing up at a police headquarters in a state of confusion, said she does not believe her son died from meningitis, which city officials have suggested may have caused his death.

Lowery walked into the city's police headquarters in the early morning hours of Jan. 5 and recorded live video in which he claimed police would kill him. He was forcefully restrained when cops put him into an ambulance, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.

By the time he arrived five to 12 minutes later at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, he was unresponsive.

The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office has not yet released a cause of death. Mayor Andre Sayegh said that Lowery had meningitis and urged anyone who came in contact with him, including police and health care personnel, be tested.

His mother, Patrice King, spoke at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, according to NorthJersey.com, and accused city officials of using meningitis as a cover up for police brutality that led to her son's death.

“Meningitis didn’t break my son’s bones. Meningitis did not kill my son," the report quoted her saying.

King also told the council that she is having an independent autopsy performed on her son. She said prominent city developer Charles Florio is helping to pay for her son's funeral on Friday.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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