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For the last 25 years, Kevin Lee Freeman, who was murdered allegedly by his cell mate at Santa Rita Jail last Friday, was a fixture on Telegraph Avenue where he panhandled, kept to himself and collected dozens of citations for alcohol-related misdemeanors.  

As news of his death spread around Telegraph Avenue Wednesday, those who knew him — the homeless, store employees and beat cops — said they were stunned. 

“I was shocked when I heard,” said Berkeley Police Officer John Jones, who has arrested and cited Freeman many times since 1983. “He has been around here for so long, I thought he was going to outlive me.” 

Freeman’s murder, the second of an inmate at the jail in 13 months, has raised concerns about Santa Rita’s policies and procedures for classifying prisoners and has sparked an outcry by homeless advocates and substance abuse counselors who question the wisdom of jailing alcoholics alongside violent criminals. 

Freeman, 55, was murdered in his cell in Santa Rita’s psychiatric ward while serving a 30-day sentence for being drunk in public. His cell mate, Ryan Lee Raper, 20, a resident of the unincorporated town of Copperopolis in Calavaras County, was being held for allegedly attacking a stranger with a knife in front of a Union City restaurant on March 2, according to Union City Police Lt. Rob Romano. 

After Freeman was found dead, Raper was transported to John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro where he is being held without bail while the Alameda County District Attorney decides whether to charge him with Freeman’s murder.  

According to Lt. Greg Ahern of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Investigations Unit, the circumstances that led to Freeman’s murder are being investigated and a report will be submitted to the Alameda County District Attorney in the coming days.  

“We’re going to look at everything, medical history, criminal history as well as current charges,” Ahern said. “We’ll also look at the medical screening and jail classification for the two inmates.” 

Longtime Presence 

By most accounts, Freeman kept to himself and rarely spoke to anyone. Many of Telegraph Avenue’s denizens said they often saw him, a gaunt and bearded figure, eating alone during the evening meal at Trinity United Methodist Church or hanging out on the sidewalk in front of Shakespeare and Company Books near People’s Park. Freeman, who was a chronic alcoholic and possibly suffered from mental illness, apparently had no close friends or family in the area.  

A homeless man who gave his name as Mike said he’d seen Freeman around for years. “I never saw him bother anybody,” he said. “He was always walking around by himself, just surviving.” 

Perhaps Freeman’s most significant human contact in recent years was with the police who had arrested or cited him more than 50 times, according to Berkeley Police Public Information Officer Mary Kusmiss. She said Freeman could become belligerent when he was very drunk, but most often he was friendly, cooperative and even charming. 

The Final Arrest 

On April 22, University of California Police officers arrested Freeman around midnight on Telegraph Avenue near Blake Street.  

According to the police report, he was intoxicated and had difficulty walking. He was charged with public drunkenness and violation of a court order to stay away from an area known as “the box,” which is enclosed by Bancroft Way, Ellsworth Street, College Avenue and Parker Street. The area includes People’s Park and a section of Telegraph Avenue that Freeman frequented for at least twenty years. 

On April 24, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Carol Brosnahan sentenced Freeman to 30 days in Santa Rita Jail for both charges, according to court documents. 

All Santa Rita inmates are psychologically evaluated by a licensed mental health care clinician, according to Barbara Majak, deputy director of Alameda County Behavioral Health Services.  

The clinician then makes recommendations for jail classifications to deputy sheriffs. Once classified, the deputies assign inmates to various housing units such as the general population, minimum or maximum security. 

Both Freeman and Raper were evaluated and assigned to a two-person cell in the Behavioral Health Unit, where inmates who suffer from mental illness or are mentally disturbed can better be monitored. 

However, the reason why Freeman, an older man with no history of violence, was put in a cell with Raper, a younger man suspected of committing an unprovoked knife attack on a stranger, is under investigation.  

“I can’t say why the decision was made,” Ahern said. “But so far there was no indication that there would have been a problem by putting the two men in the same cell.” 

A Grisly Scene 

Around 3 a.m. last Friday, several inmates, including Raper, called unit guards on intercoms to report a disturbance. When guards arrived at Freeman’s cell, they found a grisly scene. According to some reports, Freeman’s brain matter and internal organs had been smeared on the walls of the cell.  

Ahern would not confirm or deny those reports. “All I can say is that the victim died of severe blunt trauma,” he said.  

Another inmate was allegedly killed by a cell mate in the Behavioral Health Unit in April 2002. James Mitchell, 24, died from a skull fracture after a fight with his cell mate, Daniel Beltran, 22, who was later ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment. Mitchell, who had ties to Berkeley, also had a substance abuse problem and suffered from mental illness, according to Tom Gorham, a senior counselor at the 12-step program Options Recovery Services. 

“Outraged” 

Osha Neuman, a Berkeley attorney and homeless advocate, said Freeman should have been treated as a person with a disease and not as a criminal. “I’m outraged and disgusted that something like this has happened,” he said. 

He added that city and county officials should reevaluate how the criminal justice system deals with the mentally ill homeless who are severe substance abusers.  

“There are a lot of questions to ask the Alameda County sheriff about why a chronic alcoholic was sent to Santa Rita and, appallingly, put in a cell with a violent criminal,” he said. “But more than that this should be occasion for us to do a searching inventory of how we deal with this problem.” 

Gorham said Alameda County has a dire need for a detox center. 

“The way it is now, we drive local homeless people with substance abuse problems from the courts, jails and Alta Bates Hospital to San Mateo or Marin County where they can be treated at county-run detox centers,” he said.  

“Both Mitchell and Freeman’s deaths could possibly have been avoided if there was appropriate care for substance abusers in Alameda County.” 

Besides his extensive arrest record, not much is known about Kevin Lee Freeman.  

He was from Indiana where, an acquaintance said, he had been a state champion swimmer.  

He is survived by a daughter, Rasa-Lila Christina Lagaras, who lives in Cumberland County, Pa.