Daniel Neal Grayson
Daniel Grayson died on October 15, 2000, while held at the Crawford County Jail in Arkansas. The jail's own records, as cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, attribute his death to excited delirium from acute methamphetamine intoxication and a physical struggle, with idiopathic cardiomyopathy as a contributing condition. Court filings describe him being taken into the detention center after an incident near a creek, with jail staff told he was likely under the influence of drugs and disputing whether he should go to a hospital before booking. Hours later he began screaming and injuring himself, and staff tried to restrain him in a struggle; he stopped breathing and died at an emergency room. His estate sued the sheriff and jailers, and the federal courts ruled for the defendants.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed). A news report lists the death as an overdose, while the Eighth Circuit, citing jail records, attributes it to excited delirium from methamphetamine intoxication and a struggle with staff, and his estate has sued the sheriff and jailers.
Reported by: news report; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, citing jail records (court).
Lawsuit: His estate sued the Crawford County sheriff and jailers in federal court, and the courts ruled for the defendants, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit largely affirming.