Keenan Thomas
Keenan Thomas, a Pasco man, was taking classes and had earned his GED, and he talked with his mother about building her a deck and starting his own business. He was held at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, where his family says he hoped for a transfer to a minimum-security unit to be closer to his children. He was found dead in his cell on October 17, 2019, and the Walla Walla County coroner and chief medical examiner said he had apparently died many hours earlier. The medical examiner found some evidence of death by neck compression but ruled the cause undetermined. His family's wrongful-death lawsuit alleges that his cellmate strangled him after the Department of Corrections overrode staff warnings about the cellmate, and a judge ruled in the civil case that the state cannot dispute that the cellmate killed him.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed; neglect alleged). The coroner and chief medical examiner found evidence of neck compression but ruled the cause undetermined, while his family's wrongful-death lawsuit alleges his cellmate strangled him after the Department of Corrections overrode staff warnings about the cellmate.
Reported by: Walla Walla County Coroner Richard Greenwood and chief medical examiner J. Matthew Lacy (medical examiner or coroner); his family's wrongful-death lawsuit (family or their lawyers); a judge in the civil case.
Lawsuit: His family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that his cellmate strangled him after the Department of Corrections overrode staff warnings about the cellmate, and a judge ruled in the civil case that the state cannot dispute that the cellmate killed him.