Family of Kansas man killed in jail taps George Floyd family’s attorney
The family of Charles Adair, a Kansas City, Kansas, man allegedly killed by a Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy in July, is planning to file a civil rights claim, according to a Friday news release from Sachs Media, a national media firm.
The family has tapped national civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels to fight their case and bring “transparency, accountability and justice,” for Adair’s death
“We will not stand by while another Black man dies in custody under circumstances that contradict law enforcement’s duty to protect,” the release stated.
Adair, 50, died while in custody at the Wyandotte County Detention Center. An autopsy obtained by The Star revealed that he died after an officer knelt on his back during a dispute.
Adair had just received medical treatment in the jail’s infirmary for a pre-existing leg wound and was in the process of being transported back to his cell when the altercation broke out. Multiple officers responded to it.
“He was restrained, handcuffed, placed face-down or prone in part of the restraint, and placed on his lower bunk,” according to the release. “Not long after, he became unresponsive and later died.”
That autopsy ruled his death a homicide due to mechanical asphyxia, contributed to by two underlying health conditions.
The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday charged Deputy Richard Fatherley with second-degree murder, or alternately, involuntary manslaughter, for his role in Adair’s death. Fatherley is due in court in November and will not be booked into the county jail in the meantime, District Attorney Mark Dupree said in a Thursday news conference.
It is not yet known who will be named in the civil suit.
Crump is a renowned civil rights attorney who has represented numerous nationally-recognized cases, often involving victims of police brutality.
Crump’s team has represented the families of George Floyd, 46, who was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2020; 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, who was killed by officers at her home in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier that year; and Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old killed in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman in 2012.
“Records show that a deputy kneeled on Charles’ back while he was in the prone position, similar to the way George Floyd was killed more than five years ago,” Crump said in the release. “Charles’ family and his children deserve transparency, accountability and justice for his death.”
Crump’s firm did not immediately respond to emailed questions from The Star on Friday.
Kendrick Calfee, Caroline Zimmerman and Noelle Alviz-Gransee contributed to this report
