Heather Miller
Heather Ashton Miller was 28 when she died in the Davis County Jail in Utah on December 21, 2016. According to a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by her family, she fell from a top bunk onto a concrete floor and ruptured her spleen, and a jury later found that a jail nurse denied or delayed her medical care and that the county lacked adequate nursing training, supervision and protocols. The jury awarded her family $10 million, and the Davis County Sheriff's Office issued a statement in response to the verdict. An autopsy reported a near complete transection of the spleen and no other external trauma, while first responder and medical examiner notes gave differing accounts of how she was hurt. The county had not released information about its investigation, and her family and attorney have sought answers.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). The state medical examiner's autopsy found a near-complete transection of her spleen, and a federal jury found that a jail nurse denied or delayed her medical care, which her family's lawsuit also alleges.
Reported by: state medical examiner; federal jury; family's federal civil rights lawsuit and lawyer (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her family sued Davis County over her death at the Davis County Jail, and a federal jury awarded them $10 million.