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Charles Faggart’s death on April 7, 2025, following an “incident” involving officers at the Duval County jail, remains shrouded in mystery a year later.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The family of a Jacksonville man, who met a tragic end while detained at the Duval County jail, is taking legal action against the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. They are pushing for the release of public records related to the incident that led to his death, which occurred a year ago.
Charles Faggart, a cherished local chef and father, passed away on April 10, 2025, three days after the troubling incident inside the jail.
Following the event, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters addressed the media, revealing that nine corrections officers had been relieved of their duties after an inmate suffered “very bad” injuries.
In the aftermath of Faggart’s death, Sheriff Waters issued a statement confirming that both the department and the State Attorney’s Office had launched an investigation to uncover the details surrounding his death. He assured that further information would be shared once the investigation reached its conclusion.
JSO completed its investigation on July 7, 2025, and turned the investigation over to federal authorities in September.
However, on the anniversary of the incident involving those nine JSO corrections officers, the circumstances surrounding his death are still largely unknown.
Faggart’s family filed the lawsuit just after midnight on April 7, 2026, demanding a hearing be set to determine whether certain records and video evidence surrounding his death should be deemed “public” and therefore JSO be obligated to release them.
The family, represented by attorney Belkis Plata, claims they still have no answers about what happened while he was in police custody inside the Duval County jail.
In an attached comprehensive public records request to JSO dated April 14, 2025, Plata demanded the following incident-specific records, among others:
- All incident reports related to Charles Faggart’s death, including use-of-force reports, jail surveillance video, 911 calls, and all photos taken of Faggart before, during, and after the incident.
- Custody and classification records related to Charles Faggart.
- All medical intake and screening records, sick call slips, medical request forms, and logs of all visits by medical staff.
- All recorded jail communications made or received by Charles Faggart.
- Staff records for the nine now-former JSO corrections officers involved in the incident.
- All training records for staff assigned to the jail at the time of the incident.
- JSO policies and procedures on inmate medical care, use of force, suicide prevention and mental health protocols, and others.
JSO released a heavily redacted incident report along with personnel files, policies, and other information and records in response to the request, but the family claims JSO refused their request for unredacted incident reports and video from inside the jail.
The family issued a letter of intent to sue JSO on March 20, 2026, demanding they release the requested records. They said JSO then told them the April 14 open records request was closed, with no other records releasable due to the case being an active criminal investigation.
Faggart’s family argues the records should be released to the public, and is calling for a Public Records Act hearing in the lawsuit.
First Coast News reached out to JSO for comment after obtaining a copy of the lawsuit, but an agency spokesperson said the department was unable to comment on pending litigation.
JSO stripped those nine officers of their corrections authority and reassigned them to other duties. As of April 7, 2026, a JSO spokesperson told First Coast News those officers remain “administratively reassigned.”
Faggart was in custody for simple assault and criminal mischief at the time, both misdemeanors.
Former federal chief prosecutor Curtis Fallgatter said lawsuits like this are often used to gather information before pursuing additional legal action. “The petition is interesting because it’s a public records request. It’s not a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office for wrongful death,” Fallgatter said.
He added that attorneys typically seek as much information as possible early on, saying, “If you’re the lawyer trying to figure out whether or not you have a wrongful death suit, you want as much of the record information as possible.”