Colorado last May for outstanding arrest warrants.
Three days later, Tyler would die in his jail cell at the hands of an allegedly negligent 24-hour watch staff.
The 25-year-old Tabor was in the midst of a heroin withdrawal. He was one of four inmates to die in that jail during a three month period last summer.
The Adams County District Attorney investigated the incident and determined this week that the detention staff was not criminally negligent.
However, Tabor’s father, Ray Tabor said, “I absolutely feel like they dropped the ball out there and, yeah, they took my son from me out there,” according to Fox 31.
Now they plan on suing.
On May 17th at 5 a.m. deputies were suppose to check on Tabor, but they were preoccupied with another unidentified jail related situation. It was not until 25 minutes later that deputies finally arrived to check on Tabor.
But by then it was too late. Tabor was already dead.
The autopsy report shows that Tabor died of dehydration, resulting from his heroin withdrawal.
The investigation uncovered that Tabor would lose his balance and needed deputies to hold him up to help him take his medication.
Tabor requested an IV the night before he died, but his request was denied because he was not in an emergency induced condition. Tabor’s parents believe the rejected IV request was a fatal mistake. The parents are currently pursuing legal action against the Adams County Detention Facility.
The events leading to Tyler’s death are as follows:
4:59 a.m. Tyler loses his balance, and falls on bed.
5:00 a.m. Jail staff miss Tyler’s cell check.
5:25 a.m. Tyler is observed to have trouble breathing.
5:44 a.m. Ambulance arrives.
6:00 a.m. Tyler is pronounced dead.
Inmate Death is Typical at Adams County Detention Facility
Tragically enough, it is all too common for inmates to die in police custody. Recently, PINAC reported on David Stojcevsk, a man that died in the 24-hour watch psychiatric ward of the Macomb County Jail in Michigan.
Additionally, this is not the first time a inmate has died in the custody of the Adams Detention Facility this year:
April 2015, Kenneth Conti and Michael Stutsmandie died within two days of each other in custody.
July 2015, Christopher Cayton dies in custody.
Those men committed suicide, according to the Denver Post.
An Adams County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said Monday an internal investigation also found there were no policy or procedural violations from employees or the contracted medical staff. The contracted medical staff was through Corizon Health.
The district attorney’s investigation also uncovered that Tabor received a medical screening, which is standard procedure for the intake of inmates at the Adams County Jail, and he told medical staff during the screening that he used heroin on a daily basis.
As a result, Tabor was placed in the medical unit so he could receive treatment in accordance with Corizon Health’s opiate withdrawal program.
The district attorney’s decision letter noted that investigators found nothing was occurring in Tabor’s cell at the time that would have alerted deputies that he was in need of medical assistance after reviewing surveillance video.
But Tabor’s cellmate, Rocco Chioda, told the Denver Post that he was throwing up before he died.
