Beverly Smith at the press conference in front of the apartment complex where her son Alonzo died. [Photo by Christina Sturdivant)

Beverly Smith has lost faith in D.C. police and the federal government’s abilities to deliver the justice she seeks in the death of her son. “Therefore, we are asking the United Nations to do the job,” Smith said in a press conference today, calling for an independent investigation from the international body.

D.C. Police found Alonzo Smith unconscious inside an apartment building at 2312 Good Hope Road SE on November 1. He was handcuffed and in the custody of security guards licensed as “special police.” Smith later died in an area hospital.

Several weeks ago, when Beverly Smith inquired about the location of her son’s personal belongings, Internal Affairs Agent Sergeant Richard Erchlich said they were still at the hospital. After reviewing the hospital report, Beverly said, “It clearly states that my son’s property was released” to another officer. When she brought this to Erchlich’s attention, “he only offered his apologies,” she said, adding that this left her questioning the trustworthiness of her son’s lead investigator.

“I don’t know if the problems with the investigation is the result of incompetence or a cover up,” she said at the conference.

Last week, Smith’s death was ruled a homicide. LaShon Beamon, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said he died of sudden cardiac arrest that was complicated by “acute cocaine toxicity while was restrained,” with compression as a secondary cause of death.

What the autopsy report did not show, Beverly Smith said, is the massive blunt force trauma to Alonzo’s entire neck area. “I have personally viewed my son’s neck area and the funeral director even indicated that his neck appeared to be broken and that he could not get Alonzo’s head to sit straight up,” she said. Therefore, she has decided to have her son’s body exhumed for an independent autopsy.

A day after the homicide ruling, Mayor Muriel Bowser released police body-worn camera footage showing D.C. Police officers’ response to the scene of a disturbance at the residential building.

While Bowser announced that the family had been given access to the footage, Beverly alleges, “that’s a lie” and said she did not see the footage until 37 minutes after it was released to the public.

The police body-worn camera footage shows two members of the Seventh District heading up a stairwell to find Alonzo Smith handcuffed and unconscious when they arrived just after 4 a.m. The security guard, who has his knee on Smith’s back, tells the officers that he believes the man is on PCP. Per MPD protocol in such a case, one of the officers goes to get additional restraints and calls an ambulance. Alonzo was initially lying face down on the the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back, unmoving and shoeless.

After the officers turn Alonzo over and realize that he isn’t breathing, they begin to administer CPR and remove the handcuffs. At one point, they ask if the guards knew Alonzo; one responds ‘no.’ The officer performing chest compression shouts “Come on man…Come on, wake up!”

All faces in the video are obscured with black circles and a cell phone screen is concealed.

An attorney for the family said that Smith was not carrying a weapon and a witness “heard Alonzo running down the hall yelling” for help.

In addition to her disregard for MPD and D.C. government, Beverly Smith said she has “grown weary in trusting the U.S. Department of Justice” because history has shown her that when the DOJ does an investigation within a black community involving a murder at the hands of police, “no justice is ever served.”

Max Rameau of Pan-African Community Action, a group that has helped Smith organize several rallies, said that the organization has reached out to working groups and committees at the United Nations to conduct an investigation into her son’s death. In addition, the organization is requesting that the UN Human Rights Council look into the social and economic conditions that lead to the disproportionate stops, arrests, and deaths of blacks at the hands of police across the country.

The security guards, who have yet to be named, were employed by Blackout Investigations. They were licensed as “special police,”which requires 40 hours of training in the District and affords arrest powers. Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie earlier this month introduced a bill that would require even further training for special police.

Alonzo’s death was the second this year while in custody of special police officers. Bowser said that MPD initiated an investigation into the procedures for licensing such officers following the first incident, which occurred at a hospital in October. The results of the probe are expected in January.