DETROIT – The daughter of a Wayne County Sheriff’s corporal who was killed by a jail inmate spoke with Local 4 about her family’s heartbreak.
Cpl. Bryant Searcy, 50, was attacked around 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Wayne County Jail Division 2 building. Officials said an inmate got out of his cell and attacked Searcy, who was going cell to cell checking locks.
LATEST: Wayne County sheriff: Corporal killed by inmate who attacked him after getting out of cell
Searcy was seriously injured during the struggle. He later died at a Detroit Receiving Hospital.
His daughter, Chasadie Searcy, is at college in North Carolina. She said she got a call from her mother.
“My mom couldn’t even tell me,” she said. “My Godmother had to take the phone and finish the sentence for her.”
On Thursday, the family is left with an outpouring of emotion. Cpl. Searcy, who was an 18-year veteran of the department, seemed to touch lives everywhere he went.
His daughter said she will always remember his messages to her.
“He was always big on God,” she said.
His death also rocked the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are going to be here for (his family) any way we can,” Sheriff Benny Napoleon said.
“His greatest achievement was the love he shared with his wife and imparted with his daughter,” said Pastor QuanTez Pressley, of Third New Hope Baptist Church.
Sgt. Brian Rinehart worked with Cpl. Searcy for years and said he stood out as a professional.
The jail goes into a lockdown at night, and inmates are returned to their cells. Old style jail doors are closed, locked and checked by a deputy, according to officials. The 28-year-old inmate who attacked Cpl. Searcy was in a cell that had appeared to be locked, officials said.
“There was a struggle,” Napoleon said. “At the end of the struggle, we believe he lost consciousness. He was ultimately conveyed to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.”
The 28-year-old inmate remains in custody, according to authorities.
Napoleon, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, deputies and family members were at the hospital when medical officials pronounced him dead.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Cpl. Searcy’s wife, Sherry, and their daughter during this horrific time,” Evans said in a statement. “Words cannot express the magnitude of the loss and pain we feel today. A full investigation is underway, both internally by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and by the Detroit Police Department’s homicide unit. The attack on and homicide of Cpl. Searcy is a jarring reminder of the danger the men and women in law enforcement face on every shift.”