Joseph Daoust
Joseph Daoust died in his cell at the Somerset County Jail in East Madison, Maine, on May 28, 2014, while held there before trial. His girlfriend, Pamela Swett, brought a civil suit saying he suffered a pulmonary hemorrhage after being pepper-sprayed by jail staff, and the county settled that suit. A state Department of Corrections review found that staff did not call a code blue or check for a pulse or breathing before he was moved, and that they waited for an on-call nurse before starting life-sustaining steps. The review listed the method of death as unknown, and the Maine Attorney General's criminal investigation was still open when the report was released.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). Pamela Swett's civil suit says jail staff pepper-sprayed Daoust, causing a pulmonary hemorrhage; the state Department of Corrections report lists the method of death as unknown and found that staff did not call a code blue or check his pulse or breathing before moving him.
Reported by: Pamela Swett's civil lawsuit (family or their lawyers); state Department of Corrections report (outside investigators).
Lawsuit: His girlfriend, Pamela Swett, sued over his death in 2014, and Somerset County settled the suit without a reported dollar amount.