Heather Bell
The Virginia State Conference NAACP and the Montgomery-Radford-Floyd NAACP are asking for further explanation in the recent death of an 18-year-old Radford University student who died while being detained at the New River Regional Jail in Dublin.
Aris Eduardo Lobo-Perez, 18, was found unresponsive in his cell about 7:50 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 12 after being arrested on the night of Wednesday, Sept. 11 for public intoxication. He was arrested by Radford University Police and taken to NRVRJ.
Lobo-Perez, was a freshman from Culpeper, VA who was majoring in sports management, according to a statement from the university.
“The Virginia State Conference NAACP and the Montgomery-Radford-Floyd NAACP want answers to questions surrounding the death of Aris Eduardo Lobo-Perez,an 18-year-old African-American college student,” reads a statement by the VSC NAACP.”The investigation…should not be handled by local authorities.”
“Mr. Lobo-Perez’s death while in police custody is tragic,” the statement continues. “The VCS NAACP will continue to monitor this case to determine what led to his untimely death while in police custody. The VSC NAACP seeks truth and justice for Mr.Lobo-Perez and his family as try to make to make sense of his death.”
NRVRJ officials have said in a statement that Lobo-Perez died at the jail after being found unresponsive, despite efforts to administer first aid. According to NRVRJ, the student had been booked at the jail just before midnight Wednesday night,for public swearing or intoxication in public and that he was arrested by the university’s police department.His body was sent to the medical examiner’s office in Roanoke and the state police are investigating.
