Pamela Foster wonders why her husband, a retired New Orleans Saints player-turned-successful-businessman, died in the backseat of a police SUV two days after he was arrested in rural Alabama.
After the death of Glenn Foster Jr., his grieving family has received no answers from authorities in Alabama where Foster was taken into custody halfway through his drive from New Orleans to Atlanta on a business trip.
There are no official autopsy results. There were no incident reports. The sheriff's department didn't give an explanation for transporting Foster when he died.
Pamela Foster said it is difficult to make a story in your head. It is very hard to breathe when you are trying to put pieces of a puzzle together, and the pieces are not there because there is no transparency.
Everyone who knew Foster said he had big ambitions, a big heart and a big personality. The former Saints defensive end grew up in a middle-class family. He played two years of pro football before his career was cut short by injury. Foster realized his lifelong dream of going into business after the setback.
The only thing Alabama officials have said is that Foster was found unresponsive in a police vehicle after he was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into his death.
The findings will be turned over to the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's Office once the investigation is complete.
The district attorney's office said that if the investigation reveals evidence of a crime, it will be presented to a grand jury for possible criminal charges.
The death of Foster has stirred suspicion among Black residents who say a long history of racial hostility in the county remains intact. The lynchings were documented by the Equal Justice Initiative. Activists and civil rights lawyers in the area have accused the local police of operating with impunity. In the last year, three black men have been killed by police or died in police custody under questionable circumstances in Pickens County.
There is a pattern and practice of violating the constitutional rights of African Americans by this sheriff's department, according to Benjamin Crump, the prominent attorney who has been retained by Foster's family. We are going to keep pushing.
Foster died two days after he was arrested for speeding and trying to evade police in Reform, Alabama. Foster's black 2020 Jeep Wrangler was spotted going 92 mph in a 45 mph zone by police in Reform.
Police laid down spike strips to stop Foster in the town of Gordo after he led them on an 8-mile chase. His car hit a metal railing after rolling through a parking lot. Foster was taken to the county jail after being charged with reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
The father of Foster said he received an email from the Reform Police Chief. Glenn Foster suspected his son was having a mental health episode when he called the chief. Foster was diagnosed with a mental illness in 2010, but his family says he did well with it.
The behavior Foster was hearing was out of character and he agreed with the chief that his son needed a mental health evaluation.
Foster said that Glenn was not the reason for him to try to evade police. He was pulled over by the police before. You show your proof of insurance, your driver's license and your registration, you get a ticket and keep on trucking.
Things had changed by the time Foster, his wife, and Foster's wife arrived in Pickens County from Louisiana on Sunday.
Foster faced new charges of assault and robbery after he was accused of attacking a fellow prisoner and trying to steal his socks. The other prisoner was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries from the assault, and a sheriff's deputy was slightly injured when they broke up the fight.
Foster was ordered to be held without bond and undergo a mental health assessment by a judge after he was observed to be not mentally stable and a danger to himself and others.
Foster was not allowed to see his family, so the sheriff's office took him to Northport for the assessment.
Foster's family left for home. They called the sheriff's office to see how things were going with the exam. They were stunned by the response from Sheriff Todd Hall, who told them that it was a ride and that Foster was still being evaluated.
Foster's court-appointed attorney called the parents to tell them their son was dead before an exam could take place.
My wife called the sheriff and asked why he didn't tell them. He said he didn't like to give bad news over the phone.
Glenn Foster Jr.'s biggest dreams were not about football. He wanted to build on the example of his parents, who owned several rental properties. Glenn and his sister Bria were often asked to help out with the business. They would paint, sand floors, lay tile, change locks, and even collect rent. Foster was hired as a runner at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange by his cousin.
The goal was to ensure that Glenn and his sister would do better.
Foster was an athlete at a young age, but he was not always a star. He was cut from the football team. He came back to make it the next season. He was ranked as the 47th best defensive end in the country by Scout.com when he graduated. He turned down offers from Michigan State and Colorado to attend the University of Illinois.
Foster went to college with no idea of what he was going to do.
Several of his Illinois teammates made the leap to the NFL, and that changed his mind. I think I can do the same thing. His father said he was going to do it.
Foster was in college when he met Pamela. She said Foster was in the middle of a dance floor when she first saw him. They made room for him in the full place. You could say Glenn knew how to get down.
The two hit it off immediately. Glenn and Pamela were quiet and reserved. They married less than two years later and have four daughters.
His family noticed that he was acting strange. Foster's father said that he had a change in his personality, but family members wouldn't be specific about it.
Foster's parents brought him back to Chicago from college for a mental health evaluation and treatment because of the changes. He was diagnosed with manic depression. His parents said he was taken off of the medication within six or seven months. Foster's wife and parents said his condition did not present any problems after that, at least for a long time.
Pamela said that the only time they had an issue was in college.
Foster was signed by the Saints as a free agent after graduating from the University of Illinois. He had three sacks in his first year, and seemed to be poised for a breakthrough season. He missed the rest of the season because of a serious knee injury. He needed back surgery less than a year later, and the Saints cut him during the preseason. He decided to retire after his wife said he had opportunities to catch on.
He retired because he wanted to make sure he could play with his children. He had ambitions to do other things.
The money Foster made in football helped fuel his business dreams. His parents moved to Louisiana to help him after he started working as a general contractor, developer and real estate agent. He and his wife opened a stone fabrication business in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Kyle Resmondo, a general contractor who worked with Foster on dozens of jobs, used to call him the Stone Ranger. One day it will be blue. Next day it is yellow hair.
Foster was willing to try many things. He and Wayne Clark worked together on a business that cleaned trash containers. The business folded after about a year after they bought a specialized truck.
Foster invested in a New Orleans coffee shop in order to help Clark realize his dream.
I saw this place for lease and hit him, so I want you to meet me at this spot. Clark showed him his vision and he was in love with it, but Foster put up the money to help him get started.
Foster had a plan to form a communications company. He established a foundation in order to provide a resource for aspiring entrepreneurs. He became a valued benefactor at Son of a Saint, a program that mentors boys whose fathers are absent from their lives, because he volunteered with youth groups.
The founder and chief executive of the program said that when he entered a room, energy was there. He was a motivational speaker.
Lee said when the group unveiled plans for an ongoing $4 million renovation of an old ice house into its new headquarters, Foster immediately committed to donating all of the countertops.
Foster's friends and family members noticed that things seemed off with him in the days before his death.
Foster would often stop by the coffee shop to help out with things. When Foster asked Clark when he felt the last time he felt close to death, Clark dismissed it as a small talk, but now he thinks it was the moment.
Clark said that Foster went into the shop with a bottle of water in his hands, more hype than usual. He stepped out for a few minutes after announcing he was on a cleanse. Clark said that an employee of his business stopped by and asked if he had seen Glenn.
Clark thought to himself, "What the hell does Glenn have going on?" Foster got into an intense, seemingly work-related conversation with the employee before leaving.
Foster's wife and parents were aware of some different behavior shortly before he died, according to a family spokeswoman. They were trying to help him, but he left before anything could be done.
Foster died in December and his family has been trying to find out what happened.
My message as a father who lost his son is, what did they do to my son while he was in jail? What happened to him? Foster said his son was beaten by inmates, prison staff, or sheriff's police.
An independent autopsy was commissioned in the absence of official autopsy results. The lawyers said there was evidence of neck compressions and strangulation. The family of Mr. Foster is owed the truth about his death.
Questions about the deaths of two other Black men have been raised.
Broady died in the custody of the authorities. The reasons for his arrest and the circumstances of his death have not been explained by the police. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into Foster's death. An attorney for the Broady family is preparing a lawsuit.
Wallace Wilder, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was shot to death by police after brandishing a knife at them who had kicked in his apartment door for a mental health check. The wrongful death lawsuit that was filed last year named Sheriff Hall.
Two civil rights lawyers sent a letter to the governor of Alabama asking for the removal of Hall, whose office had a role in three deaths.
The lack of transparency in explaining these deaths has been consistent throughout Mr. Hall's tenure. All three men were African American. Three deaths at the hands of law enforcement in two and a half years would be unconscionable for any county.
The office of Hall and Ivey did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
I expect the truth. Pamela Foster is hoping that other people will come forward and do the right thing if it is not from the sheriff's office. I expect justice and change. Glenn is not the first. There is a pattern up there.
The death of Pierre Sims, a high school teammate of Kam's who was found unresponsive before dying in police custody in Alabama, reminded him of the case of Foster.
The questions surrounding Foster's death were never fully answered, and he is worried that those questions will never be fully answered.
There are going to be more questions when a seemingly healthy Black male dies in police custody after being picked up by police in the dark of night.
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