By Sofi Zeman
The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Wyandotte County Court judge dropped all charges against a local sheriff’s deputy who was charged in the 2025 death of a man detained in the county’s jail.
But the state may try to overturn that decision in appeals court, according to court documents.
During the final of three pre-trial hearings in the criminal case involving Deputy Richard Fatherley, 29th Judicial District Court Judge Aaron Roberts ruled that the state did not submit substantial probable cause to move that case to trial.
The Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office charged Fatherley last fall with second-degree murder, or involuntary manslaughter in the alternative, for his actions leading up to the death of Charles Adair, who was detained over traffic charges and died in his cell at the Wyandotte County Jail on July 5, 2025 .
In the days leading up to Roberts’ decision, prosecuting attorneys and Fatherley’s defense called numerous witnesses before the court, many of whom gave their eyewitness accounts of the events of that evening in 2025.
After Roberts’ ruling, members of Adair’s family declined to comment for the time being, and state prosecutors did not say whether they intended to file an appeal, which it has two weeks to do.
Shortly after the hearing, the state filed its intent to appeal Roberts’ ruling. “This morning, Wyandotte County Judge Aaron Roberts dismissed all charges against Richard Fatherley in the death of Charles Adair,” the district attorney’s office wrote in a statement. “We respect the law, but disagree with the decision. As such, the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office has filed a notice to appeal with the Kansas Court of Appeals .”
Deputy Richard Fatherley also involved in civil case
James Spies, the attorney representing Fatherley in the case, said that although the outcome of the case was favorable to his client, he understood the gravity of the tragedy that happened on the night of Adair’s death.
“Nobody wants to lose a family member, certainly under those circumstances,” he said, adding that if there’s fault to assign in the case, it’s on Providence Medical Center , an area hospital that cleared Adair to be incarcerated despite his several medical illnesses.
Fatherley’s defense will keep an eye out for an appeal and prepare to defend against that, Spies said, noting that the deputy is also facing a civil wrongful death case that another attorney is representing him in.
As of Thursday, the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office had no comment on whether it planned to allow Fatherley, who was placed on administrative leave, to return to work, Sheriff Daniel Soptic said.
Charles Adair’s death
Adair died following an altercation with several deputies that evening. Deputies who testified in court said he was being noncompliant, swinging his arms at deputies and yelling at them following a visit to the jail’s medical clinic.
During the incident, five deputies held Adair, face down, on the bunk of his cell as he struggled against their efforts to remove handcuffs that had been placed on him, they said. A medic unit came in moments later and found Adair was unresponsive and had died after efforts to resuscitate him.
Among those deputies, Fatherley, a white man who knelt on his back during the altercation, was the only one charged in the death of Adair, who was Black.
A medical examiner determined that Adair died by way of “mechanical asphyxia,” or when a force impedes someone’s ability to breathe by keeping their lungs from expanding and contracting.
Roberts said that by not calling on the case’s medical examiner or state medical expert to testify, prosecutors failed to prove that Fatherley’s actions directly led to Adair’s death.
Adair also had several medical conditions, including poor heart and lung health, diabetes and a severely infected leg wound, which Fatherley’s defense argued were other likely causes of death.
The defense at one point called up a medical expert who called the determination made on Adair’s autopsy into question, citing it did not sufficiently account for those other illnesses.
Adair wasn’t a criminal, but rather someone who had issues in life and extremely poor health, Roberts said, adding it was unfortunate that the Providence Medical Center medically cleared him as quickly as it did.
He also noted that jail staff were not equipped to handle the extent of Adair’s medical condition.
“The Wyandotte County Jail was no place for Mr. Adair to be,” he said.
Closing arguments
Prosecutors argued throughout the case that Fatherley unlawfully restrained Adair by continuing to kneel on his back — and in the testimony of one deputy, pushed Adair’s head down — even after Adair began to comply with deputies.
But, the state said, Adair didn’t die from health issues as the defense argued.
“He died because he couldn’t breathe,” said Adam Stolte, a prosecuting attorney in the case.
The defense said the state had no basis for a case, given the Kansas Bureau of Investigation had already ruled in its investigation of the incident that Fatherley didn’t commit a crime.
“The KBI determined a crime did not occur,” Spies said. “The state is asking you to substitute your judgement for the judgment of the KBI.”
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