Wade Welch
Wade Welch, 37, was held at the Pima County Adult Detention Complex in Tucson, Arizona, when he died on August 16, 2022. His family remembers him as a devoted father to his son, who was 14, and someone who loved fishing and gardening; his sister described him as tough and her best friend. According to the sheriff's department and the Pima Regional Critical Incident Team, officers used Tasers and a restraint chair while moving him between housing units, and body-camera video shows him saying he could not breathe and had a heart condition. His sister said he had been hearing voices and needed help, and activists questioned whether officers responded to his stated heart condition and requests for help. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and listed restraint among the causes, while the Pima County Attorney declined in December 2023 to charge any officers, relying in part on an outside review that found the force reasonable; the family disputes that conclusion and their wrongful death lawsuit is ongoing.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed; neglect alleged). The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide tied to restraint and Taser use by jail guards, while the sheriff's department and critical incident team describe the force as a response to a struggle; Welch's family disputes the county's conclusion and is suing, and activists dispute the county attorney's decision not to charge officers, and the family says the jail failed to act on his cries that he could not breathe and had a heart condition.
Reported by: Pima County Sheriff's Department (the agency that held him); Pima Regional Critical Incident Team (outside investigators); Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (medical examiner or coroner); Pima County Attorney's Office; Welch's family (family or their lawyers); activists.
Lawsuit: His family filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit, which is ongoing, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.
News reports (6)
- UPDATE: Taser had been used numerous times on Pima County inmate before he died, deputies say
- Pima County jail inmate dies after being shocked several times with Tasers
- Inmate dies in Pima County Jail Tuesday
- ‘Unconstitutional hole’: How Pima County jail deaths — one recently ruled a homicide — are part of a grim pattern
- Pima County Attorney won't charge officers over inmate's death after jail tasing
- No charges for jail guards in death of Wade Welch who they repeatedly shocked with a Taser