R. Kelly is seeking release from jail due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, Fox News reports.
The 53-year-old singer, who made the request yesterday, is currently behind bars in Chicago on charges involving the sexual abuse of minors. He has denied the charges.
According to an 18-page court filing by R. Kelly's legal team, their client's life is being put at "risk" due to the jail's inadequate efforts at preventing the spread of the disease.
His lawyers also claim that sanitizer and soap are in very short supply in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), and that inmates are held in small cells with a cellmate, despite social distancing measures being enforced outside of the prison system.
"The health risk to Mr. Kelly, because of his age and existing health issues, especially considering the conditions at the MCC, necessitates his release on bail," it says.
The filing did not go into any details about Kelly's "existing health issues", but insisted he they were in line with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's high-risk category.
"The courts have long recognized that there is no greater necessity than keeping a defendant alive, no matter the charge," the filing reads.
This 21-year-old influencer has told her followers that she does not care if she infects people with coronavirus:The filing also claims that while most visitors were barred from entering the facility on March 13, there were few protocols in place as far as the screening of potentially infected individuals - such as lawyers, guards, and new inmates - are concerned.
Furthermore, although the visiting floor has sanitizer, a sign next to the only available bottle says "STAFF ONLY" and a bathroom on the same floor is regularly out soap, the filing states.
If Kelly were to be released, he would live with Joycelyn Savage, his girlfriend, in a loft apartment in Chicago with an electric monitor.