A tragic end to a tragic life

By Stephanie Abbajay

The death in October of 17-year-old Roger D. Holyfield, Jr. of Dow was, in many ways, the tragic culmination of a short lifetime of turbulence, mental illness and legal problems for the troubled teen.

Holyfield died Oct. 29 in a St. Louis hospital after an Oct. 28 confrontation with Jerseyville police officers during which he was tased twice by officers, who reported that the teen was out of control, resisted arrest and displayed superhuman strength.

The Illinois State Police are investigating the incident.

In the course of investigating Holyfield’s life and the circumstances surrounding his death, the Journal was granted, by court order, permission to review his juvenile records in Jersey County.

Those records reveal a young man with a sad and troubled past, including dozens of serious run-ins with police in several jurisdictions, at least two state incarcerations for criminal activity, confinement to a children’s home in Urbana and a long history of mental illness, including bipolar disorder and depression.

Holyfield’s family would not comment on their son’s record. Jerseyville Police Chief Brad Blackorby said the police department will not comment on any aspect of the Holyfield incident. The ISP said the investigation into the death was still ongoing and they were still interviewing witnesses.

Holyfield’s most recent arrest in Jersey County and subsequent incarceration was in the summer of 2005, when he was convicted of theft after he stole a pick-up truck belonging to his neighbor, crashing the vehicle in Morgan County. In 2003, Holyfield was incarcerated for criminal damage to property after he set fire to a church in Urbana, causing over $400,000 in damage.

The early years

Court documents show that Holyfield’s troubles with police, and his troubling behavior, began at a very early age.

Between Aug. 23, 1998, when he was just eight years old, and July 7, 2005, Holyfield had at least 21 documented run-ins with police in various jurisdictions, including runaways, burglary, battery, theft, damage to property, domestic trouble and disorderly conduct.

His first arrest that led to a conviction was in October 2001 at the age of 12, when he admitted to criminal damage of property stemming from an incident in which he vandalized vehicles at Beiermann Buick-Pontiac in Jerseyville. Holyfield pled guilty, paid restitution and court fees and was placed on supervision for a year, which he completed successfully in November 2002.

By then, Holyfield, at the request of his parents Rita Cummings and Roger Holyfield, had become a ward of the state and was a resident of Cunningham Children’s Home (CCH) in Urbana, a residential facility for troubled youth.

According to psychological and counseling reports, Holyfield had been diagnosed with manic bipolar disorder, depression, Tourette’s syndrome, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder and cannabis abuse. He underwent extensive medical and counseling treatments for those illnesses and reports indicate that he took a variety of medicines though the years, including Seroquel, Depakote, Wellbutrin, Paxil, Ritalin, Adderall, Resperadol, Clonidine and others.

According to court documents, he was hospitalized in psychiatric facilities at least nine times since the age of 10.

A 2002 psychological report found that Holyfield’s early home life was “unsafe and irrational” and that his relationship with his father, who according to records was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was described as an alcoholic and an abuser of drugs, played a major role in the young boy’s depression and anxiety.

Two reports stated that Holyfield’s father would “drug the minor with Nyquil and take him on drug buys.” The reports also said the young man witnessed his father being shot at and being involved in physical violence, including against the boy himself.

Nevertheless, the psychologist noted that despite his father’s deviant behavior, the boy saw himself as the source of his father’s problems, “believing that his father wouldn’t have these troubles if he were a better boy.”

These feelings, according to the psychologist’s report, contributed significantly to Holyfield’s antisocial and violent behavior, his estrangement from “normal” society and his failure to form healthy relationships. Holyfield’s disorders caused him to be defiant and abusive, often physically so, toward authority figures as well as his peers, and that he chose the antisocial path whenever possible.

The report found that the boy’s “assumption that he is a bad person gives him license to not try to be any different which often involved taking an expedient, deviant route.”

The reports indicate that Holyfield’s mother was actively involved in her son’s treatments and legal interactions. Holyfield’s father committed suicide in 2003.

At the Children’s Home

While a resident at CCH in 2002 and 2003, reports state that Holyfield’s behavior declined markedly.
Over a three-month period in 2003, documents show that he was restrained, arrested or otherwise detained by police, staff members or other personnel over 30 times for actions including physical violence, burglary, running away, damage to property and more.

In May 2003, at the age of 14, while still a resident at CCH, he was on probation for burglary when he was arrested and convicted of criminal damage to property. That conviction was the result of an incident on May 27, 2003, in which Holyfield and a fellow juvenile resident of CCH ran away from the facility and set fire to the Crusaders Church in Urbana. Damage from that fire was determined to be in excess of $400,000.
An officer’s report appended to the sentencing documents reads, in part: “This young man’s behavior has been in steady decline and despite every effort it is this officer’s opinion that the minor has been fully aware of the impact of his actions and that he simply chose to do them. The seriousness of this offense and the extent of the damage done show that this minor cannot be allowed to remain in the community. The minor not only needs to be supervised 24 hours a day for the protection of the community but kept in a place where he will not have the opportunity to leave that placement without supervision.”

A CCH case manager’s report dated just prior to the May 2003 church arson stated that Holyfield’s behavior had declined dangerously in 2003. He had become increasingly chaotic and violent, had exhibited manic states and manic behavior and had made threatening and homicidal statements to staff members. The report also said that Holyfield was cooperative with his treatment and had requested additional therapy sessions.

Convictions

Holyfield was convicted of the church fire in August 2003 and sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections, though records of the length of his incarceration were not available and the IDOC would not release that information.

While on probation for that crime, Holyfield, then 15, was arrested by Jerseyville police on July 7, 2005, for aggravated assault and theft. According to court records, Holyfield “took his neighbor’s truck and wrecked it in Morgan County while fleeing from police.” Prior to stealing the truck, Holyfield, again according to court documents, threatened his mother, Rita Cummings, with a knife.

The assault and damage to property charges were dropped and Holyfield pled guilty to the charge of theft.

In a sentencing recommendation to the court, a probation officer wrote: “The minor has possibly reached the end of any considerations he may get from a merciful court. His history of arrests and recent criminal behavior show the minor has not been rehabilitated.”

Holyfield was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Juvenile Division and served from August 19, 2005, until he was paroled on Dec. 8, 2005.

There are no other court documents or reports in his file after that date. The next known encounter between the young man and police was Oct. 28, 2006 in Jerseyville.

Holyfield’s family would not comment on the period of time from December 2005 until that evening.

Official reports not ready

An autopsy was performed on Holyfield Oct. 30, but official results are not ready.
Dr. Phillip Burch, the deputy medical examiner for the city of St. Louis who performed the autopsy, said Wednesday that he is still waiting for toxicology reports.
After completing the autopsy in October, Burch told the Journal that he believed a condition known as “excited delirium” contributed to Holyfield’s death and that, in his opinion, the Tasers did not likely play a role.

The ISP is also investigating the incident and has not released any findings.