Niko Smith
Niko Smith, 31, died in August 2015 while held in the Washoe County jail in Nevada, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Reno attorneys Terri Keyser-Cooper and Luke Busby. The lawsuit says he was taken into custody at a bail bonds business after saying he feared he had been poisoned, and that he later tried to hang himself at the jail. It says deputies moved to put him in a protective garment and that officers pinned him down, with two of them kneeling on his back, until he stopped breathing and never regained consciousness. His death certificate lists the manner of death as homicide, with complications of excited delirium and methamphetamine intoxication as the cause, and the lawsuit disputes that account.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). The death certificate, as cited in a wrongful death lawsuit by Reno attorneys Terri Keyser-Cooper and Luke Busby, lists homicide with complications of excited delirium and methamphetamine intoxication, while the lawsuit says deputies and officers kneeling on his back cut off his breathing and failed to respond when he lost consciousness.
Reported by: death certificate cited in wrongful death lawsuit; Reno attorneys Terri Keyser-Cooper and Luke Busby, in a wrongful death lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Reno attorneys Terri Keyser-Cooper and Luke Busby filed a wrongful death lawsuit over Niko Smith's 2015 death in Washoe County, alleging that deputies cut off his breathing while restraining him.