Austin Wells
Austin Wells, 17, died at the Bureau County Jail in Bureau County, Illinois, on June 9, 2007, five days after he was taken there. A news report said he died by suicide, and his estate's lawsuit against the county and the sheriff says he hanged himself. The lawsuit challenged the sheriff's overnight cell-check policy, under which guards could not personally observe people held there for hours at a time overnight. In 2010 a federal court allowed the claims about that policy to go forward, finding it arguably linked to his death and calling such a policy unfathomable.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). A news report lists the death as a suicide, and Wells' estate says he hung himself in a lawsuit that claims the sheriff's overnight cell-check policy, which kept guards from observing him for hours, contributed to his death.
Reported by: news report; Wells' estate (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Wells' estate sued Bureau County and its sheriff over his death, and a federal court in 2010 allowed claims about the overnight cell-check policy to proceed, with no payment reported.