Arkansas family waits for answers after fight at movie theater results in death
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A family is seeking answers after their loved one died after an incident at a Little Rock movie theater. They said their family member, Terence Caffey, 30, was the man who died and they are left with a lot of questions.
The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said last Friday around 10 p.m., a deputy that just completed his shift at Movie Tavern was contacted by management claiming Terence was attacking their employees. Authorities said once the deputy arrived, Terence and the employees were seen fighting.
The sheriff's office said while attempting to arrest Terence there was a struggle. They said when medical personnel checked on Terence he went into distress but did not tell KATV to what extent. Terence was later pronounced dead at Baptist Health.
Khakeem Williams, the older brother of Terence, said they are asking for justice for his death. He described his brother's death as an empty hole in his heart. Williams said his brother was a hard worker and not a person that causes problems.
"He wasn't a trouble maker, he was never looking for trouble, he made friends easily with anybody and he'll give you anything that he had," Williams said.
The Caffey family's attorney, Marion Humphrey, Sr., and Jr. told KATV they believe Terence's death could be a wrongful death case.
"We need more details, we're not sure that he wasn't dead before his body was removed from these premises," Humphrey, Sr. said. "That could've been the case. He could've died at the hospital. We are waiting [for] autopsy results."
Humphrey, Sr. said they believe law enforcement will cooperate and hope by the end of this week to have more information on what happened. He said they have consulted with both PSCO Sheriff Eric Higgins and LRPD Chief Keith Humphrey.
The uncle of Terence, Nigel Caffey told KATV his death has been hard to process. According to Nigel, their family is trying to keep everything peaceful despite not being provided with much information.
"We haven't been able to view the body, we haven't really been contacted by the police. There's only so much they've been able to tell us which don't give us enough for the answers we're trying to get right now," Nigel said.
On Monday afternoon, Nigel said they commemorated Terence's life with a balloon release.
According to Humphrey, Sr., in the 30 years he has practiced law, he can only think of five or six in-custody deaths cases that involved PSCO.
"This one perhaps even more extreme in that no one is alleging that he came out to rob any place, or that he was committing a crime, he was not selling drugs, he was simply being a patron at a movie theater," Humphrey, Sr. said.
Humphrey, Sr. told KATV when a body is being assessed to a crime lab the family is not allowed to view the body.
Officials with the sheriff's department told KATV the crime lab could determine a cause of death by Wednesday.
