KANSAS CITY, KANSAS — The family of Charles Adair filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in April accusing a Wyandotte County sheriff's deputy of causing his death by pressing a knee into his back for one minute and 26 seconds while he was in custody. The lawsuit, filed in Kansas City, Kansas, names the Wyandotte County sheriff, the unified government for Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, and Deputy Richard Fatherley.

Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Harry Daniels represent the family and were allowed to view video of the incident. Investigators determined that Adair died after the deputy shoved his knee into his back for one minute and 26 seconds.

Adair was arrested in July on misdemeanor warrants for failure to appear on multiple traffic violations. According to an affidavit by a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent, Adair's leg was so badly infected at the time of his arrest that it needed to be amputated, and he was taken straight to the hospital. Before returning to jail, he was diagnosed with a type of bone infection that sometimes develops in people with diabetes. A medical screening found that he was schizophrenic.

The lawsuit states that Adair was incoherent and that deputies believed his medical condition was affecting his brain. The evening after his leg was rewrapped, Adair got into an argument with the deputy wheeling him back to his cell and, according to the affidavit, threw himself out of the wheelchair.

Once back in his cell, deputies placed Adair on his stomach on the bottom bunk with his legs and knees on the ground, according to court filings. The lawsuit states that Fatherley pressed his body weight onto Adair's back while Adair was complying with commands and repeatedly yelled for help. Other deputies removed Adair's handcuffs while Fatherley shifted his weight forward. The lawsuit states that no other officers present intervened and that the deputies failed to modify their tactics to account for Adair's apparent mental health impairment.

Fatherley is on administrative leave and free on bond. The lawsuit states that Fatherley was not cut off from his sheriff's office email after he was charged, allowing him to communicate with other agency members and employees who were witnesses. Wyandotte County sheriff's Capt. Michael Kroening said Fatherley's email was deactivated on April 13 after the litigation was filed. Kroening declined to comment further because litigation is pending.

A status conference in the criminal case against Fatherley is set for May. "Adair's death was a tragic accident, but it was not a result of Fatherley's actions," attorney James Spies said.