02/07/2019
Josiah Martin | a&e editor
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police issued a news release on Feb. 4 stating that student Marquis Jaylen “JB” Brown had marijuana in his system, amid other new details.
Students had initially called 9-1-1 around 10 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2018, to report a “possible fight between roommates” in Brown’s room, according to the police. Security camera footage supported eyewitness statements that Brown had been acting erratically in the elevator, hallway and dorm room prior to the call.
When Duquesne University police officers arrived at 10:05 p.m., they discovered no fighting, rather Brown’s roommate attempting to calm him down.
“Soon after the officers’ arrival, Brown picked up a chair and broke a window,” according to the statement. “Eyewitnesses in the room — including two Duquesne University Police officers, a campus security guard and a student Resident Assistant — stated that Brown then jumped out the window.”
Eyewitnesses also clarified that “there was no physical contact or confrontation between police and Brown in the room.”
While no clear reason is given for Brown’s erratic behavior, drug testing revealed marijuana in his system.
Pittsburgh police were dispatched to Brottier around 10:24 p.m., after Brown’s jump from the 16th-floor window, and EMS drove Brown to UPMC Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:12 p.m.
“JB” Brown, 21, from Washington, D.C, was a junior at Duquesne and a running back for the football team. A month after his death, students led a walk-out protest demanding more details surrounding the incident.
Pittsburgh police have deemed the case closed unless new evidence is obtained.
