Autopsy reveals officer knelt on Charles Adair’s back in Wyandotte County jail before death
Adair, 50, suffocated after a struggle on July 5. The coroner ruled his death a homicide.
Adair, 50, suffocated after a struggle on July 5. The coroner ruled his death a homicide.
A newly released autopsy report shows an officer in the Wyandotte County Detention Center knelt on a 50-year-old man’s back just before the man’s death this summer.
The autopsy, obtained by KMBC 9 Investigates after an open records request, found Charles Adair, 50, died from complications of mechanical asphyxia on July 5.
That means he could not breathe due to restraint. The coroner has ruled his death a homicide.
The detail about an officer kneeling on Adair’s back was left out of a press release by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation late Friday afternoon.
Adair was also in some sort of chair in the moments leading up to his death, according to the autopsy report. KMBC 9 Investigates is seeking clarification on whether it was some sort of restraint chair or a wheelchair bringing him from the detention center’s medical unit, where he was being treated for a leg wound, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
Adair also had multiple rib fractures, internal bleeding from his back and shoulders, a chest fracture, and signs of suffocation from his eyes, according to the autopsy report obtained by KMBC 9 Investigates on Wednesday.
So far, Wyandotte County sheriff’s officials, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Wyandotte County district attorney’s office have declined further comment as the case is now with the district attorney.
The KBI also said that it has closed its investigation and presented its findings to the Wyandotte County district attorney’s office.
Adair's arrest and death
Adair was booked on July 4 after being arrested on misdemeanor failure-to-appear warrants tied to traffic violations.
A KBI news release from July said Adair received treatment in the jail’s infirmary for a preexisting leg wound.
When staff tried to escort him back to his cell, a press release from the KBI said Adair allegedly caused a disturbance, resisted deputies and was handcuffed.
Deputies placed him on the lower bunk in his cell and removed the handcuffs.
Jail staff called medical personnel shortly after Adair became unresponsive.
Emergency medical services arrived and attempted lifesaving measures, but he was pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m.
The KBI said agents did not observe "any obvious signs of physical injury."
Adair becomes the latest inmate to die in the United States after trouble breathing while restrained.
KMBC’s recent "RESTRAINED" investigation found jailers across the country often put inmates in positions in which they struggled for air.
Those deaths are often complicated by external restraint devices like restraint chairs.
But other deaths involved the prone position, in which someone is lying down and officers are placing pressure on their back, restricting airflow.
If you have a tip about this situation, KMBC 9 Investigates needs to know. Email investigates@kmbc.com.
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