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Jackson jail death spurs lawsuit Melissa Rice’s family alleges wrongful death, 14th amendment violations BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER he family of a Sylva woman who died by suicide in the Jackson County Detention Center last year has filed suit in federal district court against members of the sheriff ’s department who handled her incarceration. Filed by Rice’s son Matthew Dillard, who is the administrator of Rice’s estate, the suit seeks a series of judgments that would easily exceed $3 million if granted in full. He claims that the defendants’ “negligent” acts and “malicious, willful and wanton disregard” for Rice’s rights led to her death. Rice, 49, died on Jan. 18, 2019, after she was found hanging by a phone cord in the detention center Jan. 16. According to public documents previously reported on in The Smoky Mountain News, she had been arrested for trespassing at her ex-husband’s home in Cashiers and faced 10 charges, including breaking and entering, simple assault, larceny of a motor vehicle, burning personal property and assault on a government official, among others. After her arrest that morning, she was taken to Harris Regional Hospital for evaluation and treatment of a hand injury and then transported to the detention center. While alone in the booking room waiting for the magistrate, she hanged herself with a phone cord just outside of clear range of the monitoring camera. The State Bureau of Investigation investigated Rice’s death, and District Attorney Ashley Welch evaluated the resulting report. In July, Welch announced that no criminal charges would result. The report showed no “culpable negligence or omissions” by law enforcement, or evidence proving that any officer “failed to perform a duty of his or her office,” Welch wrote in a press release. She concluded that detention officers had monitored Rice in compliance with state law and that they did
Jackson County’s 72-bed jail has seen three suicides since 2014. File photo
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March 11-17, 2020
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not notice any behavior indicating Rice could be a danger to herself. Earlier that day, Welch said, a medical doctor had determined that Rice was not suicidal.
THE ALLEGATIONS The facts laid out in Dillard’s lawsuit bring every one of Welch’s conclusions into question. According to the lawsuit, Rice was suicidal, and the officers knew it. She was intoxicated, and they knew that too. She never should have been held in the booking room — which in addition to containing a corded phone was not fully covered by monitoring cameras — and she should have been checked on four times each hour, not two. Jail logs show that detention officers checked on Rice at irregular intervals twice per hour, as state law requires for all inmates. However, those checks must occur four times per hour when an inmate is suicidal, mentally ill, intoxicated, violent or displaying erratic behavior — the suit argues that Rice should have received this enhanced monitoring. Rice was arrested after she allegedly attempted to break into her ex-husband’s house and attempted to assault his girlfriend and child, who were the only ones home at the time. The girlfriend advised Deputy
Ridge Parris, who responded to the scene at 9:15 a.m., that Rice appeared to be “high” on drugs, as she didn’t flinch when the door was repeatedly slammed on her fingers. The suit states that Parris immediately noticed that Rice smelled of alcohol. Though Rice resisted arrest and assaulted Parris, he ultimately handcuffed her and put her in the backseat of his patrol car with his K-9 partner. He then went inside to obtain a statement from the witness and wash blood off his hands, leaving Rice and the K-9 in the car for more than 10 minutes. “While she was handcuffed and locked in the back of the patrol car, Decedent (Rice)
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The State Bureau of Investigation investigated Rice’s death, and District Attorney Ashley Welch evaluated the resulting report. In July, Welch announced that no criminal charges would result.
used a cigarette lighter and a one dollar bill, which Parris had failed to secure, to set her clothes and the seat of the patrol car on fire in an apparent attempt to commit suicide,” the suit reads. “Upon exiting the Rice residence, Parris observed the fire in the patrol car, removed Decedent from the car, and extinguished the flames.” A backup officer arrived, and during the noon hour Rice was taken to Harris’ emergency room “due to her hand injury and apparent alcohol use.” Patrol Lieutenant Stephen Watson accompanied her while she was at the hospital, the suit said, and had been made aware of Rice’s previous actions. During a self-harm assessment at the hospital, Rice responded “no” to questions such as “Do you have thoughts to harm or kill yourself?” The suit alleges that Watson knew those responses were untrue and “failed to accurately report Decedent’s erratic and suicidal behavior.” As a result, the hospital determined that Rice was fit for confinement. At about 1:30 p.m., she was booked and initially placed in a holding cell. During that time, multiple law enforcement personnel — including detention officers Aniyah McMullen, Emily Couvillon, Justin Nicholson and Kayla Elliott, as well as Detention Sergeant Shondra Collini and Bailiff Deputy Mark Junaluska — had the chance to observe Rice, with several reporting that she smelled of alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated or impaired, the lawsuit states. They were aware of her previous actions and “considered her to be a risk of harm to other inmates such that she was segregated from other prisoners.” Due to these concerns, between 3:30 and 4 p.m. she was placed in the booking and bond room. However, this room didn’t comply with normal detention center standards. It had only one camera, which did not offer a view of the entire room, and it had a wallmounted telephone with a cord that extended several feet from the wall — long enough for an inmate to use it to hang themselves. At 4:06 p.m., Magistrate Judge Albert Reagan granted a restraining order against Rice filed by her ex-husband, who reported on that same document that Rice had threatened suicide. Parris visited the booking room at 6:15 p.m., detailing the list of charges she would face and serving the restraining order.
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