KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Wyandotte County District Court judge released new details Wednesday in the murder case against Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Fatherley.
Fatherley is charged with second-degree murder in the July 5, 2025, death of inmate Charles Adair at the Wyandotte County Jail.
The affidavit reveals Fatherley knelt on Adair's back for more than a minute during the July 5th incident.

Affidavit provides clues, details
According to the affidavit filed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Adair, 50, initially turned himself in around 1:20 a.m. on July 4 to security officers at the 7th Street Casino in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.
Casino security workers notified the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, who ran Adair’s background and found he was wanted on several outstanding misdemeanor traffic warrants.
When KCKPD officers attempted to take him to the Wyandotte County Jail - located just across the street from the casino - jail intake workers refused to book Adair out of medical concerns for a “large infected wound” on Adair’s leg.
Officers took Adair across the county to Providence Medical Center, where he arrived at 3:12 a.m. Doctors diagnosed him with Osteomyelitis of the left leg and discharged him about 90 minutes after he arrived, with paperwork that allowed him to be cleared for jail.
Adair was transported back to downtown KCK, where he was booked into the jail at 5:41 a.m. As part of the booking process, court documents reveal that Adair admitted to having several medical conditions, including: a pacemaker, blood clots in his left arm, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and schizophrenia.
The court documents do not indicate any activity between when Adair completed the booking process and 10 p.m. on July 4, when he refused medical staff’s offer to re-wrap the wound on his infected leg.
Day of Adair's homicide
Around 10 a.m. the following morning, on July 5, the affidavit indicates Adair wanted to leave his cell with a blanket during the morning recreation time for his jail pod.
“Adair eventually came out of his cell, in his wheelchair, yelling profanities, which caused a disturbance with inmates who were yelling at him to be quiet,” the affidavit says. The situation escalated after Adair allegedly failed to stop yelling profanities at the request of a deputy.
As other inmates were directed to lockdown, the deputy used his radio to call for backup as he attempted to return Adair back to his cell. Additional deputies arrived and were able to return Adair to his cell.
By 8 p.m. that night, Adair allegedly agreed to allow medical staff to retape his leg. At about 8:32 p.m., Adair, while in his wheelchair, begins arguing with a deputy and then throws himself on the floor of the medical unit.
Additional deputies responded as Adair reportedly made incoherent remarks. They were able to get him back into his wheelchair, handcuffed his hands in the front, and took him back to his cell.
The court documents reveal that several deputies picked Adair up out of his wheelchair and placed him stomach-down on the lower bunk in his cell.
As deputies worked to control Adair’s movements, the affidavit claims that Adair can be heard yelling, “Help.”
The following sequence is presented straight from the affidavit:
- At 8:36:18PM: Adair is removed from the wheelchair and placed on his stomach on the bottom bunk by Deputies . Adair's body positioning is the top half of his body is on the bed and the lower half off the bed, in a kneeling position. As this is- occurring, an audible yell can be heard coming from Adair. Adair can be heard yelling, "Help". Adair's upper half of his body is on the bunk and his legs/knees are on the ground.
- At 8:36:22PM, Deputy Fatherley appears on video and is seen going towards the bunk. Deputy Fatherley places his left leg/knee on the lower part of Adair's back, as his right leg is planted on the ground. His left hand is placed on Adair's upper left shoulder. Deputy Fatherley can be heard saying, "You're done, stop, give me your hands" and Adair responds with "Ok". Adair, still handcuffed at this time, pushes his arms forward towards Deputy . Deputy on the bunk, and it appears his hands are assisting in holding Adair's left arm and shoulder down, but due to Deputy Fatherley, it is har'd to determine his exact positioning. Deputy is also observed holding Adair's legs to the ground.
- At 8:36:31PM, Adair is seen pushing his arms forward, towards Deputy , and he lays his head on the bed.
- At 8:36:37PM, Deputy appears on video to assist in removing Adair's handcuffs. Adair's last movement that can be seen on video is at approximately 8:36:46PM.
- At 8:36:49PM, Deputy Fatherley is seen shifting his weight forward, appearing to apply more weight on his left leg, which is still on Adair's lower back, and left arm, which .is on Adair's upper left shoulder.
- At approximately 8:37:40PM, Deputy is able to remove the handcuffs and one. by one all Deputies exit the cell, as Deputy Fatherley continues to hold Adair down on the bed. Adair is not seen moving, his hands are still pushed forward and his head is face down on the bed.
- At 8:37:48PM, Deputy Fatherley removes his weight from Adair and exits the cell.
The affidavit is unclear about how much time elapses between when Fatherley leaves the cell and when a nurse and two deputies arrive to check on Adair per jail policy after a use-of-force incident. The affidavit merely describes it as "shortly after" Fatherley left the cell.
The two deputies who were with the nurse found Adair in the same position as when they exited the cell earlier. When one of the deputies announces that they are there with a nurse to check on Adair, they receive no response. The two deputies move Adair to the floor and onto his back and discover that Adair is unresponsive. They perform a sternum rub on Adair and get no response. After the nurse fails to find a pulse, deputies start CPR while paramedics are called. Adair was pronounced deceased at 9:19 p.m.
The affidavit includes two paragraphs that reference deputy training in use-of-force incidents during interviews with the deputies who were involved in the events. It's unclear which deputies were interviewed or whether Fatherley was among those interviewed. The spacing of the paragraphs in the affidavit indicates some portions of the document were redacted.

Case after Adair's death
An autopsy was performed on Adair's body by Forensic Medical of Kansas. On Aug. 20, Pathologist Dr. Feng Li concluded Adair's cause of death was from complications of mechanical asphyxia, with contributing causes listed as hypertensive cardiovascular disease and hepatic cirrhosis due to chronic alcoholism. Li ruled the manner of death a homicide.
With the autopsy complete, KBI investigators turned the case file over to Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree on Sept. 5.
Dupree announced on Sept. 18 that he had filed charges of second-degree murder, reckless, or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter against Fatherley. Fatherley was not arrested or booked into the Wyandotte County Jail. He was given a summons to appear at a hearing set for Nov. 18.
The case has drawn national attention and calls for the release of the body cam video that captured the altercation in the jail.
In a Sept. 23 news conference, civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and attorney Harry Daniels announced they were working with Adair's family in the case.
"When you all get to see that video, you'll be as shocked as anybody who saw the George Floyd video," Crump said. "Charles Adair should not be dead."
KSHB 41 News reporter Alyssa Jackson spoke with members of Adair's family in September, saying they "want everything released.....everything released."
You can watch that interview in the video player below.
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