Cairo family still looking for answers about man's alleged hanging death

~ Demetrius Flowers was arrested at 4:04 a.m. Dec. 14 and found dead less than five hours later.

CAIRO, Ill. -- The family of Demetrius Flowers, seeking answers about his death in Cairo police custody four weeks ago, asked Mayor Paul Farris to attend a community gathering next week.

Farris didn't immediately agree to the request, made during a Cairo City Council meeting Tuesday. The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 21 at the Holy City Church of God in Christ at 18th Street and Martin Luther King Avenue in Cairo.

"We don't have the answers," Melinda Flowers, sister of Demetrius Flowers, said Wednesday. "They haven't released anything to us. We should know something, and we haven't heard a word."

Demetrius Flowers was pronounced dead in a holding cell at 9:34 a.m. Dec. 14. He was found hanging by his shoelaces. He was arrested at 4:04 a.m. that morning on suspicion of battery and obstructing a police officer.

Illinois State Police are leading the investigation, which has included a review of a jail videotape that focused on the cell holding Flowers, state police spokesman Dale Poole said in an interview from District 22 headquarters in Ullin, Ill.

He would not comment on what the videotape revealed. Family members also have not seen the videotape, Melinda Flowers said.

Alexander County coroner David Barkett has promised an inquest into the death but no hearing has been scheduled. Barkett could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Three Cairo police officers and two dispatchers are serving a suspension without pay while the investigation continues. During the council meeting Tuesday, members of Demetrius Flowers' family asked whether the suspension was continuing and if rumors that at least one of the police officers had returned to work were true.

All five remain suspended without pay, Farris said. They have turned in their city gear.

"A decision will be made by the end of the month as far as any other action," Farris said.

Immediately after the death, Barkett announced he was requesting investigations by the Illinois Attorney General's office and the FBI. The attorney general's office is letting the state police handle the investigation, spokesman Scott Mulford said.

"At this point the attorney general's office is not involved," he said.

State police investigators have contacted family members to ask questions, but they won't reveal any information when the family calls for answers, Melinda Flowers said. "The family is waiting to find out something from them."