Overview

• District Attorney Mark Dupree charged Deputy Richard Fatherley with second-degree murder and, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter in the July 5 death of Charles Adair at the Wyandotte County Detention Center.
• An autopsy ruled the death a homicide caused by complications of mechanical asphyxia, reporting that an officer kneeled on Adair’s back and documenting rib and sternal fractures alongside contributory heart disease and cirrhosis.
• According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Adair received infirmary care for a leg wound, resisted being returned to his cell, was handcuffed and placed on a lower bunk, and was found unresponsive minutes after deputies left.
• Fatherley was issued a court summons rather than being booked into jail and is on administrative leave; Dupree said summonses for officers are common practice, though some defense attorneys called the approach unusual.
• The sheriff’s office has declined to release camera footage, and Adair’s family and Justice for Wyandotte are pressing to see it, while the defense argues the case does not meet the elements of second-degree murder and vows to seek an acquittal.