An ex-jailer who was let go after video and co-workers caught him repeatedly punching an inmate in the head told an investigator that he thought the first hit “was justified” but admitted the others “were unreasonable.”
In all, former Sedgwick County detention deputy Kymbal A. Britt, 19, punched the inmate at least five times while the inmate was in a holding cell at the Sedgwick County Jail on April 22, according to an arrest affidavit released last month. He is scheduled for a bench trial this week on one count of misdemeanor battery, court records show. A lawyer listed for him in court records couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Authorities have said previously that the inmate had been “ banging on the doors and yelling for an extended period ” and when Britt tried to move him to a different location to prevent damage to the cell, the inmate “sat down on a bench and placed his hands towards his chest in a passive resistant manner.” Britt started punching him after that.
Authorities previously said Britt hit the inmate’s head and body six to eight times but claimed the inmate wasn’t harmed.
The affidavit, which gives new details about what transpired the day of the beating, says the inmate was hitting a phone on the wall, didn’t immediately follow orders to move, may have made a rude hand gesture and called Britt names before the attack.
But there is nothing in the document that suggests the inmate verbally or physically threatened Britt, or that he fought back when the pummeling began. Another jailer even told an investigator that the inmate didn’t strike back or do anything to defend himself.
When interviewed about the incident, Britt told the investigator he punched the inmate to “gain compliance” and because he thought the inmate might start fighting after he entered the holding cell. He said he wanted “to end the fight before (the inmate) started fighting,” the affidavit says.
The inmate told the investigator he started banging a phone receiver on a wall out of frustration because he couldn’t make a call with it and had been waiting for hours to be taken to another area to use the phone. He said Britt entered the cell, gave him orders and when he put his hands behind his back, he “started to get hit in the face.”
He said he “was not trying to do anything other than to tell them he just wanted a phone call,” the affidavit says.
A coworker of Britt’s who was also interviewed had to “put himself” in between Britt and the inmate so Britt would stop throwing punches, the affidavit says. Britt later asked a sergeant who watched surveillance footage of the attack whether his actions were “a good use of force.”
Video shows what happened
According to the affidavit, surveillance video from inside the jail captured Britt’s interactions with the inmate before and during the attack. The video, which is described in the affidavit, reportedly shows Britt opening the inmate’s cell door and talking with him before stepping inside. The inmate “backed up to a concrete bench ... sat down with his back against the wall and crossed his arms” when Britt went in.
Britt touched the inmate’s shoulder and pointed “towards the wall with the phone” then pulled the inmate forward, the affidavit says the video shows. The inmate responded by pushing “himself back against the wall.”
A deputy standing by reached in to help Britt make the inmate move. But when the inmate “attempted to block” the deputies, Britt grabbed the inmate and “pushed (him) against the wall.”
When the inmate moved off the wall and turned toward Britt, “Britt struck ... (him) in the head.”
The inmate “brought his head down and leaned forward” after the punch. Britt responded with another strike.
The inmate “slid down the wall, bent over” in a squatted position, where Britt hit him in the head a third time.
Britt delivered at least two more punches after the inmate had been “pushed to the floor,” the affidavit says the video shows.
Another deputy “pushed Deputy Britt back” to stop the beating, the affidavit says.
Britt was ‘amped up’
Deputies on duty that day said the inmate had been disruptive because he wanted a phone call, a blanket and a trip to the nurse due to illness, according to the affidavit.
Britt was “amped up” during that time, a fellow deputy told an investigator.
Another said he saw Britt shouting at the inmate and calling him a “whiney baby” and a “b----.” The inmate “responded with racist remarks” and Britt “made comments about how ... (the inmate) is annoying him and pissing him off,” the affidavit says.
The deputy said he told Britt to “quit antagonizing” and ignore the inmate.
But Britt said “F--- that” and said he wanted to fight the inmate, the affidavit says the deputy told the investigator.
In his interview, Britt told the investigator that the inmate had “flipped him off,” called him names and insulted him “each time he passed by.” He said one of his co-workers tried to talk to the inmate after the phone banging started, “but that did not work” so a sergeant decided the inmate should be moved to a safety cell.
Britt told the investigator the inmate did not comply with his orders to stand up and turn around so he could be handcuffed. He said he hit the inmate “four or five times” because “he thought ... (the inmate) would fight them due to ... (the inmate’s) prior words and demeanor,” the affidavit says.
Britt, a Wichita resident, was terminated on April 22, the same day as the attack, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has said. He worked for the jail for a little more than a year, since April 17, 2023.
Sedgwick County Jail deputy accused of punching inmate charged with misdemeanor battery
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