N.J. family struck by 2nd fatal tragedy

Briscoe's death came less than two years after a handful of police officers and civilians took his nephew, Keith Briscoe, down to the pavement outside a Wawa in Winslow Township.

"This is just another total devastation," Keith's sister, Sunny Briscoe, said yesterday.

On May 3, 2010, Keith Briscoe was standing outside a Wawa on Cross Keys Road, smoking a cigarette and drinking a soda, when he was approached by then-Officer Sean Richards. He accused Briscoe of loitering and asked him to leave. Briscoe, who suffered from schizophrenia and attended a mental-health treatment center a block away, refused and eventually wound up on the bottom of a pile in the parking lot, with Richards, four other officers and three civilians on top of him.

Briscoe, a Waterford Township resident, died that morning of traumatic asphyxiation. His death was ruled a homicide, and Richards was given a year of probation after pleading guilty to simple assault.

Sunny Briscoe said her mother and "Lord Allen" grew closer after Keith died. Allen Briscoe, a lifelong Camden resident, also lost a son prematurely, to a seizure about a decade ago, she said.

"He really helped my mother deal with Keith's passing," she said.

Sunny said her mother passed out at Cooper last night after learning her brother had died. Mayes was in custody and was scheduled to be arraigned on murder charges this afternoon.