NC jail death could prompt changes in training, policy

John Neville, 56, died on Dec. 4 from a brain injury caused by "positional and compressional asphyxia during prone restraint," meaning while he was being held face down, according to an autopsy report.

Two days earlier, detention officers found Neville disoriented in his jail cell and struggled to restrain him.

They rolled him over onto his stomach after an officer said Neville tried to bite him.

"Let me up!" Neville shouted several times. "Help me, help me, help me, help me, please!"

As officers worked to restrain Neville, he said, "I can't breathe," over and over.

Officers took him to a multi-purpose room, where they pinned him down on the floor on his stomach – some appear to be kneeling on him in the video – and tried to remove his handcuffs. But after a key breaks off in the handcuffs, deputies have to wait for someone to find bolt cutters to cut through the metal.

During this time, Neville is heard saying "Help me!" and "I can't breathe!" dozens of times, but he becomes eventually becomes quiet and unresponsive.

"I do think that it is a problem worldwide where officers may not be able to handle these type of situations," Miles said. "Our jails and our prisons are not up to par."

The Special Response Team, which often handles unruly inmates, was called to handle Neville, which family attorney Mike Grace said turned out to be a gave error.

"If I'm in that jail and I'm in charge, the first thing I'm going to say is, 'Get this man out of our jail. Call EMS. He's clearly having a problem that we aren't able to handle,'" Miles said. "If they'd called EMS, he'd be alive today."

"Clearly, there are folks that believe that the way this was handled is not appropriate, as evidenced by the criminal charges," said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president of the North Carolina Sheriffs Association.

Sheriffs statewide set their own policies for county jail operations, Caldwell said. The state sets guidelines for fire safety, food and sanitation, but not restraint.

But he noted that detention officers are required to take a state training course and ongoing in-service training. Neville's case could wind up as part of future training, he said.

“Anytime there's a violation of a citizen's rights or excessive use of force or any other inappropriate conduct, that is likely to be incorporated into future training material to train new officers and veteran officers, to give them a good example of how not to conduct themselves and how not to carry out their duties," Caldwell said.

Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said Wednesday that he cried as he watched the body-cam video.

"I want you to know, as a result of that, there are many changes that have been made," Kimbrough said about Neville's death.