Maurice Antoine King
Maurice King was a 34-year-old father of two daughters and a son, and a painter from Durham who loved to paint and often worked from memory. He died on March 4, 2020, while held at the Orange County Jail in Hillsborough, North Carolina, after an assault in his cell. His mother, Tiffany King, says in a federal lawsuit that detention officers did not check on him for about an hour and a half, and that he reached the hospital more than two hours later. A 4th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion says two detention officers heard distress from his cell and waited about twenty minutes before checking on him, reportedly to avoid extra paperwork, and that the medical examiner classified the death a homicide. An autopsy attributed his death to hypertensive cardiovascular disease after a physical altercation, and the court allowed the estate's lawsuit against the two officers to proceed.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed; neglect alleged). The medical examiner classified the death a homicide after an assault in his cell, while his family's federal lawsuit says detention officers did not check on him for about an hour and a half, and the estate's lawsuit says they waited about twenty minutes before checking.
Reported by: Orange County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held him); autopsy report and medical examiner's classification as homicide (medical examiner or coroner); his mother's federal lawsuit and his estate's lawsuit (family or their lawyers); 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals opinion (court).
Lawsuit: His estate sued two Orange County detention officers over his death, and the case was allowed to proceed, with no settlement or award reported.