No indictments for 5 officers accused of killing John Neville at NC jail. Grand jury indicts nurse
A Forsyth County grand jury declined to indict five former detention officers for involuntary manslaughter in the December 2019 death of John Neville.
The grand jury did indict Michelle Heughins, who worked as a nurse at the Forsyth County jail, with involuntary manslaughter, according to court documents.
Forsyth County prosecutors can seek indictments for involuntary manslaughter at another session of the grand jury. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
Neville, 56, of Greensboro, died Dec. 4, 2019, three days after prosecutors and a federal lawsuit allege that detention officers and Heughins ignored his medical distress and had him pinned in a prone restraint in a cell for nearly an hour.
The federal lawsuit, filed by Neville’s son, Sean Neville, said that John Neville yelled 30 times that he couldn’t breathe. An autopsy report said Neville died from a brain injury caused when his heart stopped beating and his brain was deprived of oxygen. He asphyxiated while being restrained with his arms behind his back, and his legs folded, a position often referred informally as a “hog tie.”
Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. did not publicly acknowledge Neville’s death for six months. On June 26, 2020, he provided limited information in response to questions from the Winston-Salem Journal.
In July 2020, O’Neill announced involuntary manslaughter charges against Heughins and five former detention officers: Lt. Lavette Maria Williams, Cpl. Edward Joseph Roussel, Officer Sarah Elizabeth Poole, Officer Antonio Woodley Jr. and Officer Christopher Bryan Stamper.
The cases against the detention officers had been pending in Forsyth District Court since their arrest in July and their next court date was scheduled for May 20. Heughins’ case is now in Forsyth Superior Court and she has a court date of May 20, according to records on the courthouse computer system.
“Michelle Heughins was the only person who tried to save Mr. Neville at the jail that day,” Claire J. Rauscher, one of Heughins’ attorneys, said Monday. “It was the detention officers who restrained him and put him on his stomach, handcuffed, and had her leave the room.”
Rauscher said Heughins will be fully vindicated when the case gets to trial. Heughins’ attorneys filed a notice asking to waive a probable cause hearing in Forsyth District Court and to request a speedy trial, according to court documents.
Heughins’ case is now in Forsyth Superior Court and she has a court date of May 20, according to records on the courthouse computer system. There is no trial date.
Neville’s death prompted protests during the summer of 2020, and Triad Abolition Project staged a 49-day occupation of Bailey Park. Protesters held signs saying that Kimbrough and O’Neill had blood on their hands.
Richard Keshian, one of the attorneys representing Sean Neville in the federal lawsuit, said no trial date has been set for the lawsuit yet.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 6:17 PM with the headline "No indictments for 5 officers accused of killing John Neville at NC jail. Grand jury indicts nurse."