A Macon County woman wants answers six days after her husband was beaten to death in the Macon County Jail in Tuskegee, a tragedy that occurred while she was waiting to post his bond.

John Reed, 72, father and military veteran, died on October 22. Daniel Pollard III, 24, of Tuskegee, is charged with murder.

On Monday morning, Regene Reed recounted what she said she knows about the brutal end of her husband’s life and her questions about how it happened.

Regene, along with other relatives and her pastor, spoke to the office of Montgomery County Attorney Chuck James, who is seeking information from authorities and anyone else with information on behalf of the family.

“I want to know how they let this happen,” Regene said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Someone had to look. Who was there to stop her? Wasn’t anyone there to stop her?”

Pollard was charged with first degree murder. An arrest document said Pollard caused Reed’s death by punching and kicking him in the head.

U.S. District Judge Deborah H. Biggers ruled last week that Pollard needed an appointed attorney because of his “mental deficiency.”

Pollard’s attorney, Jennifer Joyce Tompkins, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. Biggers scheduled a preliminary hearing for Dec. 4.

Regene Reed said she got a call last Monday night, Oct. 21, from a friend to say her husband had been arrested. She called the jail and was told he was there on a DUI charge and she could pick him up Tuesday morning.

“I’m at home, John calls me at 8 o’clock in the morning and says you can come pick me up, my bond is $285,” Regene said.

Regene said she and her husband’s mother, Arinzell Reed, who lives with the couple, went to get Reed.

“So me and his mom get there around 8:45,” Regene said. “They told me I had to wait for the slaves.”

He waited in the car for about an hour, then went in to check again. She was told the jailer still hadn’t arrived, so she went back to her car to wait with Reed’s mother, who is 94.

Around 10:30 a.m., Regene said, it became clear there was an emergency at the jail, with an ambulance, fire engines and police cars arriving.

“So people are running like crazy,” Regene said. “I’m sitting in my car. I don’t think anything affects me. So I’m looking around watching all the action going on.”

Regene went back inside to check on him a third time and was told Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson wanted to speak with her.

“He says, ‘Mrs. Reed, I have bad news. Your husband got into a fight with another inmate and succumbed to his injuries,’” Regene said. “I said, what are you saying? I said what do you mean he succumbed to his injuries? What are you telling me?”

Regene said he knew what the sheriff meant by “gave in,” but he wanted to make it clear. She said Brunson told her emergency workers tried to save her husband but were unsuccessful.

Brunson could not be reached for comment for this story.

John Reed’s health problems raise more questions about why he was not protected in prison, Regene said. He walked with a cane and used oxygen all the time for his chronic COPD.

Regene said she stayed at the jail until 3 o’clock last Tuesday, asking to see her husband, but was not allowed. Eventually, she said, family members made her go home.

Regene later learned that her husband’s body had been taken to the Forensic Science Department for an autopsy. He is now at Burton’s Funeral Home in Tuskegee. Regene has yet to see her husband’s remains.

She said she was told her husband had been beaten so brutally she wouldn’t recognize him. But she said she would recognize him no matter how badly he was disfigured.

“On Saturday, I had to take a photo of him at Burton so they could reconstruct his face as best as possible to make it look like him,” Regene said.

A comedian and a sharp dresser

Regene Reed said she and John Reed have been together for about 16 years. They lived in Michigan for seven years and returned to Alabama to care for his mother.

On Monday, Regene wore a T-shirt with a photo of John Reed wearing a suit, hat, bow tie and a big smile while holding his walking stick.

“He’s got a closet full of costumes,” Regene said. “He has shoes that go with everything, with every outfit. And when he wears jogging suits, he has sneakers to match. If she’s wearing a set of shorts, she has sandals to match.”

Regene said the photo on the shirt was taken at Reed’s son’s wedding about two years ago. Reed’s son is an engineer and his daughter is an aircraft mechanic at the Atlanta airport, Regene said.

“John was a comedian,” Regene said. “He made you laugh. All the time. Even when I’m mad at him, he could find something to say to make me laugh when I’m mad. So you can’t stay mad at him for long.”

Chuck James, the Reed family’s attorney, said they are awaiting information from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the State Bureau of Investigation.

James called Reed’s death a “total, cataclysmic, abysmal breakdown of all existing systems” and wants to know more about how it happened.

“How long were they there?” James said.

“How long were they unsupervised? Where were the other guards? Was help called? Is there video surveillance? Is there video surveillance of Mr. Reed off? Is there video surveillance of Mr. Pollard’s pick-up?

“What did other inmates witness? What have other law enforcement officials who work there at the prison witnessed? These are the kind of answers I wish I could give this family. That’s why we’re starting this research mission.”

James also encouraged anyone who knows what happened to call his office at Serious Injury Law Group.

Regene Reed said her husband’s memorial service is scheduled for Nov. 9 at Jubilee Christian Fellowship International in Tuskegee.

She said it could not be held at her church because the expected crowd would be too large, several hundred people.

“I want justice,” Regene Reed said.

“And until we get justice, I’m going to be very irritated. And I don’t mean money. I mean justice. Macon County must be held accountable. Some responsibility must be taken for this. And it must be publicly known that this is not in order. It was meaningless.”