KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The July 5 death of a Wyandotte County Detention Center inmate has been ruled a homicide, authorities announced Friday.
Around 8:30 p.m. on July 5, inmate Charles Adair had just received treatment for a pre-existing leg injury and was on his way back to his cell when an altercation broke out.
In a release following the incident in July, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Adair yelled, physically resisted and did not comply with commands.
Adair was eventually brought back to his cell, after which deputies allegedly left him alone.
Moments later, Adair was found unresponsive in his cell. Despite life-saving measures, Adair was declared deceased around 9:19 p.m.
A KBI spokesperson said Friday that its investigators had received the autopsy report from the Wyandotte County Coroner’s Office stating that Adair’s manner of death was a homicide.
“In the final autopsy report, the coroner ruled Adair’s cause of death as complications of mechanical asphyxia,” the KBI said Friday. “Contributory factors were noted as hypertensive cardiovascular disease and hepatic cirrhosis due to chronic alcoholism.”
The KBI says it has turned the case over to the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of any charges.
Adair was arrested on Friday, July 4, for misdemeanor warrants regarding his failure to appear on multiple traffic violations, according to the KBI.
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