Brian Bonner
Brian Bonner, 38, lived with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and his mother Carla Bonner said he was kind and gentle when he had his medication, rarely missed church, and still enjoyed drawing landscapes and shooting pool with his brothers. He was booked into the Tulsa Municipal Jail in February 2025, and surveillance footage showed him lying alone in his cell, wheezing and gasping, around noon on his third day there. Staff found him unresponsive more than three hours later, and emergency responders declared him dead at the scene. According to the autopsy, as reported by The Frontier, a throat infection swelled his airway shut, and his estate's attorney, Spencer Bryan, has filed a lawsuit calling the death entirely preventable.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). An autopsy found a throat infection swelled his airway shut, while his estate's lawsuit says jail staff left him alone in his cell for hours and calls his death preventable.
Reported by: autopsy; Tulsa Police incident report (the agency that held him); estate's lawsuit (attorney Spencer Bryan) (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: His estate sued over his death at the Tulsa Municipal Jail, and the estate's attorney, Spencer Bryan, calls the deaths preventable; no settlement or award amount has been reported.