Family demanding answers after Miami-Dade defendant drinks cup of beach inside courtroom

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A man in a Miami-Dade County courtroom waiting to hear the verdict on the armed robbery charges against him attempted to cause himself serious harm.

His family said he drank a cup full of bleach, but questions remains as to how he got ahold of it.

That man, Jermaine Bell, had just been found guilty of armed robbery.

Bell has been in custody for more than three years fighting the charges.

He immediately became sick, so sick that he was taken out of the courtroom on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

Bell would survive, but serious questions are being asked regarding how this could have happened.

Reverend Jerome Starling is a distant relative of Bell and believes there needs to be accountability.

“I see him drinking something that’s not right,” said Starling. “His attorneys are letting him drink it. Corrections letting him drink it. All of a sudden I see him collapse. And I said how could this happen.”

Bell’s cousin took the video of what happened. She couldn’t believe what was happening before her eyes.

Now Bell’s family wants answers after fearing they were going to lose him.

The entire matter is under investigation by Miami-Dade County Corrections and Miami-Dade police.