Associated Press
EVERETT, Wash. — The family of an inmate who died in the Snohomish County Jail has filed a lawsuit claiming he was mistreated by jail staff.
Seattlepi.com reports that Bill Williams was agitated and uncooperative when he arrived at the jail on Sept. 14, 2012.
He had been arrested for shoplifting beer and cigarettes from a convenience store. Seventeen minutes later, he was dead.
His family claims jail staff was unnecessarily violent toward Williams.
Investigators with the county medical examiner’s office ruled Williams’ death a homicide, finding that injuries sustained at the jail stopped his heart.
Williams was one of a string of deaths at the county jail, and his family is now one of several to sue Snohomish County.