Jail staff brutalized man until he died while tied to chair in booking area, WV suit says
A man detained at a West Virginia jail died within hours of booking, according to a recently filed lawsuit, which accuses correctional officers of killing him through their use of excessive force and lack of response to his medical needs.
A medical examiner marked homicide as the manner of 48-year-old Nathan Jonah Kennedy’s death on the certificate issued by the West Virginia Department of Health and provided to McClatchy News by attorney L. Dante’ diTrapano, who represents Kennedy’s estate.
The main cause is listed as “physical struggle with blunt force injuries and restraint procedures.”
In a span of under three hours, the lawsuit says officers at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County confined Kennedy “in multiple cages,” handcuffed and pepper-sprayed him, put him in a “spit” mask, assaulted and tasered him, then “tied and/or cuffed” his wrist and ankles and strapped him to a restraint chair.
He died as a pretrial detainee, while tied to a chair in the jail’s booking area on Sept. 8, 2023, according to a complaint filed Feb. 21 in Kanawha County.
“As he was dying, Nathan Kennedy was only feet away from nursing staff and there was a medical unit just down the hall,” attorney Jesse Forbes, who also represents Kennedy’s estate, said in a March 3 news release.
“Despite this, as alleged, he was allowed to suffer and die in the short time he was at the jail with 911 not being called until his blood pressure was almost non-existent.”
The lawsuit names the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, multiple employees and jail officers, as well as Wexford Health Sources as defendants. Wexford Health Sources is listed as the jail’s health care provider.
The jail is run by the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which didn’t return McClatchy News’ request for comment March 4. Wexford Health Sources, based in Pennsylvania, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
According to the attorneys representing the lawsuit, West Virginia State Police investigated Kennedy’s death and reviewed provided video footage, including footage from a surveillance camera and an officer’s cell phone.
Some footage might be missing, the attorneys said, based on a report written by a state police investigator.
In an emailed statement to McClatchy News on March 5, West Virginia State Police Capt. L. T. Goldie confirmed the agency had conducted an investigation. The investigation was provided to the Doddridge County Prosecutor’s Office, Goldie said.
“The State police Investigation reveals serious questions about what video evidence was preserved,” diTrapano said in a statement.
In response to McClatchy News’ inquiry, Doddridge County Prosecuting Attorney L. Elizabeth “Betsy” Coffey wrote via email on March 5 that “this is an open case with an active investigation.”
What happened at the jail?
Kennedy was born in Calhoun County and is survived by his mother, his partner, a brother, three children and a grandchild, according to his obituary.
“Nathan lived life to the fullest,” his obituary says. “He made everyone laugh, cry, and clap at the stories he shared.”
Kennedy loved camping, hiking and biking in the West Virginia mountains, as well as animals, according to his obituary.
On Sept. 8, 2023, Kennedy was arrested in connection with a “disturbance” with his roommate that morning, according to the complaint.
His arresting officers, with the Parkersburg Police Department, believed he consumed drugs and took him to a medical center, the complaint says. There, Kennedy told staff that he had taken methamphetamine, according to the filing.
He was released that afternoon and was taken to a holding center, the complaint says. At around 3:44 p.m., he was transferred to the North Central Regional Jail.
At about 6:35 p.m., a correctional officer called 911 from the booking area to request an ambulance for a “use of force” incident involving Kennedy and said his blood pressure was 42/36, according to the complaint.
A blood pressure reading below 90/60 is “abnormally low,” according to Everyday Health.
Kennedy was detained in a cage in a “debilitated state of health” within an hour of arriving at the jail and “began shaking his cage,” the complaint says.
He was seen hitting the cage with his fists and head, according to the complaint, which cited his jail medical records.
Corrections and medical staff should’ve got him medical help, the complaint says.
“Instead” officers pepper-sprayed Kennedy during his “obvious medical emergency inside the cage,” according to the complaint.
He was “left without proper decontamination to suffer the effects,” the complaint says.
After about 45 minutes, officers unlocked the cage, removed Kennedy’s handcuffs and gave him water and a towel a few minutes later, according to the complaint.
Two officers took Kennedy into a bathroom, where they injured him during a “physical struggle” and assaulted him, the complaint says.
The officers are then accused of putting the spit mask over his face.
Afterward, they restrained Kennedy to a chair and tasered him as he was having a medical crisis, causing him to die, according to the complaint.
The medical examiner listed “methamphetamine intoxication and hypertensive cardiovascular disease” as his secondary cause of death, followed by the primary cause: the physical struggle and his restraint.
In describing how his death occurred, the medical examiner wrote Kennedy “consumed illicit drugs by unknown routes and was involved in physical struggle with other individuals.”
Death of another pretrial detainee
A case over the death of another pretrial detainee at the North Central Regional Jail went to trial in August 2024 and resulted in a $1 million settlement, according to diTrapano and Forbes, who represented that case.
Similar to Kennedy, Zachary Bailey died within three hours of arriving at the jail, in the facility’s booking area in July 2019, WTAP-TV reported.
“The death of 26-year-old Zachary Bailey should have resulted in change,” diTrapano said in the release. “But here we have another tragic and devastating death in the exact same facility.”
Forbes said Kennedy was “brutally assaulted and killed,” per the release.
For Kennedy’s pain, suffering and emotional distress, the lawsuit on behalf of his estate seeks an unspecified amount in damages and demands a jury trial.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Jail staff brutalized man until he died while tied to chair in booking area, WV suit says."
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