Current:Home > NewsNevada inmate who died was pepper sprayed and held face down, autopsy shows -ProfitLogic
Nevada inmate who died was pepper sprayed and held face down, autopsy shows
View
Date:2025-04-13 02:43:09
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada prisoner died after he was pepper sprayed by guards, shut in a storage room, shackled and restrained with his face to the ground, according to an autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press.
Patrick Odale’s death on Dec. 28, 2023, at Southern Desert Correctional Center has been ruled a homicide.
The coroner’s report finalized in late August follows a nearly nine-month investigation into Odale’s death at the mostly medium security prison near Las Vegas. The Clark County coroner’s office found Odale, who was 39, died of “ positional and mechanical asphyxia in the setting of law enforcement restraint.”
Michael Freeman, an Oregon-based forensic pathology expert who was not involved in the investigation, said “mechanical and positional asphyxia” typically happens when a person is restrained while face down with their hands behind their back, as pressure is placed on their torso, arms or neck.
Low levels of methamphetamine and xylazine, an animal sedative, were also found in Odale’s system, and the coroner’s office described the drugs as a “major contributor” in his death.
The Nevada Department of Corrections did not disclose any details, including that Odale was restrained, when it announced his death in a January news release.
A department spokesperson declined to comment on the autopsy report Thursday, citing the agency’s “active investigation.” No information has been released on how Odale was able to access drugs while in custody, how many officers were involved and if any of them were disciplined. A spokesperson for state Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office hasn’t responded to an email asking if it was investigating the guards involved in Odale’s death.
Odale, a father of two, was sentenced in early 2023 to up to two years in prison for possessing a stolen credit card and attempting to carry a concealed weapon, court records show.
On the night of Odale’s death, officers said he was “erratic and growling” at them, according to the autopsy. The guards pepper sprayed him and kept him in a storage room with yard tools for several minutes until he began “thrashing the room,” the report says. Then officers pulled him to the ground, restrained him and took him to the prison infirmary.
According to the autopsy, prison and medical staff administered Narcan, an overdose-reversing drug, several times.
As part of the coroner’s investigation, the medical examiner tasked with determining the cause and manner of Odale’s death reviewed video of the incident. The autopsy report indicates that there may be a gap in the footage.
The footage, as described by the medical examiner in the report, shows Odale groaning as he is taken to the prison infirmary. He is face down with his hands shackled behind his back. Then, the autopsy says, “after a gap, video coverage resumes,” showing prison staff performing CPR on an unresponsive Odale.
“When the video resumes, the inmate is face-up with hands shackled anteriorly,” the medical examiner wrote, meaning that his hands were no longer shackled behind him but were in front of his body.
He was pronounced dead soon after.
Taken together, the medical examiner ruled, Odale died because he was restrained in a position that prevented him from breathing properly along with the effects of his recent drug use.
Amy Estrada, the mother of Odale’s young son and daughter, said Friday that Odale was a kind-hearted person and loving father who wouldn’t think twice about giving away his last dollar to someone in need.
Three days before Odale died, Estrada and their children finally received approval from the prison to visit Odale. Estrada said Odale told them over the phone, “Finally we get to see each other!”
His children weren’t able to visit before his death.
___
Former Associated Press writer Gabe Stern contributed to this report from Reno, Nevada.
veryGood! (6681)
Related
- This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
- High-Stakes Fight Over Rooftop Solar Spreads to Michigan
- Andy Cohen Promises VPR Reunion Will Upset Every Woman in America
- Activists sue Harvard over legacy admissions after affirmative action ruling
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- NASCAR contractor electrocuted to death while setting up course for Chicago Street Race
- Proof Tom Holland Is Marveling Over Photos of Girlfriend Zendaya Online
- Senate 2020: In Alaska, a Controversy Over an Embattled Mine Has Tightened the Race
- Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
- What's closed and what's open on the Fourth of July?
Ranking
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Appalachia’s Strip-Mined Mountains Face a Growing Climate Risk: Flooding
- This Is the Only Lip Product You Need in Your Bag This Summer
- Why Grayson Chrisley Says Parents Todd and Julie's Time in Prison Is Worse Than Them Dying
- 'Most Whopper
- Rex Tillerson Testifies, Denying Exxon Misled Investors About Climate Risk
- RHOC's Tamra Judge Reveals Where She and Shannon Beador Stand After Huge Reconciliation Fight
- Kim Zolciak Won't Be Tardy to Drop Biermann From Her Instagram Name
Recommendation
The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
Why Vanderpump Rules' Tom Schwartz Feels Angst Toward Tom Sandoval After Affair
What the BLM Shake-Up Could Mean for Public Lands and Their Climate Impact
Firework injuries send people to hospitals across U.S. as authorities issue warnings
Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
Allow Kylie Jenner to Give You a Mini Tour of Her California Home
China’s Dramatic Solar Shift Could Take Sting Out of Trump’s Panel Tariffs
Best Friend Day Gifts Under $100: Here's What To Buy the Bestie That Has It All