Benny Longoria
Dallas activist C.d. Kirven and Elvia Longoria, the sister of Benny Longoria who was found dead in his Tulsa apartment on June 20, said today that they still want Tulsa police to investigate Benny Longoria’s death, even though police say the man died of natural causes and no investigation is necessary.
Elvia Longoria said that she and her family didn’t find out until a month later that her brother had died. She said she and one of her sisters went to Tulsa in July after learning in a phone call that Benny had died the previous month. She said that she and her sister “got different stories” from the manager of the apartment complex where Benny lived and from police, and that police officers they talked to at the time were rude and disrespectful and refused to consider any further investigation.
Elvia Longoria said that her brother’s possessions were apparently destroyed by a cleaning crew brought in to clean the apartment, and that cellphone and wallet remain unaccounted for. She also said his body was cremated without the family’s permission, and that cremation goes against the family’s religious beliefs.
Elivia Longoria said she had contacted Dallas City Councilman Adam Medrano, a longtime family friend, for help in getting answers, and that Medrano had connected her with Kirven who agreed to help. Kirven gave Dallas Voice an account of the family’s efforts, which was posted on this blog on Tuesday, Aug. 5. That blog has been removed, at least temporarily, after Elvia Longoria said Thursday morning that information included in it indicating that a crew from the police department had cleaned out the apartment and destroyed her brother’s belongings was incorrect.
She said that the apartment manager said that a “crime scene cleaning crew” had cleaned the apartment and removed and destroyed the furnishings and other belongings, but that the apartment had been cleaned by a company, hired by the apartment complex, that specializes in cleaning up crime scenes, not by police personnel.
Kirven and Elvia Longoria have also said that the death certificate — of which Dallas Voice has a copy — was never signed by a doctor and that Benny Longoria’s attending physician, Dr. Frances Haas, told them on Wednesday that she had never signed a death certificate and “never would sign it.” The “draft” copy of the death certificate given to Elvia Longoria lists her brother’s cause of death as “complications from chronic ethanol abuse” with hypertension and HIV/AIDS as contributing factors.
Tulsa police have said that Kirven has lied about events that have happened, and have said they have a death certificate signed by Benny Longoria’s attending physician.
Medrano issued a written statement late Wednesday, Aug. 6, saying: “My thoughts and prayers are with the Longoria family as they say good-bye to Benny Longoria. … My heart is filled with sadness as the family struggles to find answers and grapple with the loss of their beloved brother … .”
Medrano’s statement also includes information on a memorial service that had been planned for Saturday, Aug. 9, at a Tulsa restaurant where Benny Longoria once worked. Elvia Longoria said Thursday morning, however, that the family will likely cancel the planned service.
Dallas Voice will continue to follow this story, and will update this post as more information becomes available.