Marvin Scott III

Marvin Scott III, 26, who had schizophrenia, died in custody at the Collin County, Texas jail on March 14, 2021, nine months after George Floyd's murder, after detention officers strapped him to a restraint bed, pepper-sprayed him, and covered his face with a spit hood. He had been arrested that afternoon for possessing less than two ounces of marijuana and was medically cleared at a hospital before being taken to jail, where he began exhibiting what the sheriff called “strange behavior.” Security video released by the county showed him struggling for roughly 17 minutes while restrained before going unresponsive; officers then removed the hood and began CPR. The county medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, citing “a fatal acute stress response” during the restraint struggle. A Collin County grand jury declined to indict any of the eight jailers involved in June 2021. No one has ever been charged in Scott's death.

McKinney, TX · Collin County

• 2021: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The arrest, the restraint, and the in-custody death, per Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner's public statements and 41 minutes of jail security video the county released.
• Scott was medically cleared by a physician roughly three hours before being taken to the jail, where he began exhibiting erratic behavior; his family said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but had not had an episode in over a year.
• Officers strapped Scott to a restraint bed, pepper-sprayed him once, and placed a spit hood over his face; released video showed him struggling for roughly 17 minutes before going unresponsive, after which officers removed the hood and began CPR.
• Collin County Medical Examiner Dr. William Rohr ruled the death a homicide in a preliminary autopsy report, attributing it to “a fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement.”
• Seven of the eight involved detention officers were fired and an eighth resigned following an internal investigation; at least one was later reinstated through the civil service process.
• A Collin County grand jury, after reviewing witness testimony, video evidence, and applicable law over several days, declined to indict any of the eight jailers — Andres Cardenas, Alec Difatta, Blaise Mikulewicz, Rafael Paradez, Justin Patrick, James Schoelen, Christopher Windsor, and Austin Wong — on June 22, 2021, finding no probable cause for a crime.
• The grand jury separately recommended forming a group to study Scott's death and prevent similar incidents, and District Attorney Greg Willis said he shared its concern about how people with mental illness are treated in custody.

• Whether the combined restraint, pepper spray, and spit hood constituted excessive force given Scott's documented mental illness, as his family's attorney argued citing the medical examiner's own homicide ruling, was never tested at any criminal trial.
• The specific evidence and legal reasoning behind the grand jury's no-probable-cause finding has not been made public, as grand jury proceedings are sealed under Texas law.
• Whether jail staff followed Collin County's own use-of-restraint policy during the 17-minute struggle has been disputed between the sheriff's public characterization and the family attorney's review of the same released video.

• The Texas Tribune — “Collin County officers won't face charges in Marvin Scott III's death”
• CNN — “Marvin Scott death: Grand jury declines to charge former jailers”
• CBS News Texas — “Collin County Authorities Release Security Video Related To In-Custody Death Of Marvin Scott III”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs