Issaquah pays millions after ‘preventable’ overdoses killed 2 at jail
SEATTLE – Kevin Wiley and David McGrath likely never met, but they died under strikingly similar circumstances.
Both men were in their 40s and struggling with drug addiction. In 2023, months apart, both were booked into the Issaquah City Jail on suspicion of shoplifting, a gross misdemeanor. Less than 48 hours after each of them were booked, they were dead.
Wiley and McGrath are the only incarcerated people who have died at the Issaquah, Washington, jail in its 25-year history, according to public records obtained by the Seattle Times.
The two men’s loved ones alleged the jail was grossly negligent and ignored their obvious need for medical treatment. The jail ended up paying out millions in settlements: $2.5 million to the McGrath family and $3 million to Wiley’s, as first reported by Cascade PBS.
A police officer initially alleged McGrath had stolen $200 worth of items from a Value Village. Three months earlier, Wiley was booked on suspicion of stealing about $400 of merchandise from a Target.
McGrath’s family sued the city of Issaquah, and Wiley’s family filed a tort claim that was settled by the city before a lawsuit was filed.
“Either (staff) are not taking it seriously, maybe they see it so often that they’re desensitized to it,” said Amanda Searle, an attorney for the families. “But there are policies that need to be followed for a reason, and people’s lives are at stake.”
The King County prosecuting attorney’s office reviewed both deaths to determine whether charges should be filed or whether the cases should be further scrutinized via the county’s inquest process – a neutral, fact-finding hearing into the who, what, why, where and how of deaths involving police and corrections officers.
The office determined McGrath’s death was an “accident” and did not recommend an inquest. A spokesperson for the King County executive’s office said Wiley’s case is still under review by the Inquest Program. Charges were not pursued in either death.
McGrath’s family alleged his death was “shocking and preventable” and that the jail committed negligence, gross negligence and deliberate indifference.
Wiley overdosed after he and several of his cellmates repeatedly told jail staff he needed medical attention.
A statement from the city of Issaquah, sent by its attorney Ann Trivett, said the jail “is committed to providing the highest quality public safety services and creating a safe environment for all inmates” amid the fentanyl epidemic, and has addressed challenges with “compassion and diligence.”
According to the statement, the jail has increased supervisory staff, “refined” processes for communications between incarcerated people and medical staff, “increased end-of-shift communications” and installed more surveillance cameras.
Death investigations
McGrath was booked into the jail and placed in an isolation cell overnight after he told staff he needed medical attention. The staff ignored his requests, the wrongful death complaint states, and the next morning medical staff determined he should be taken to a hospital.
A report to the Legislature stated that a nurse requested corrections staff furlough McGrath to a hospital because the jail “was currently out of the recommended medication.” About two hours after that request was made, medics arrived to find McGrath not breathing in his cell. A medical examiner later determined he died from acute fentanyl intoxication.
While the King County prosecuting attorney’s office didn’t file charges in Wiley’s death – saying there wasn’t enough evidence to show any one employee was criminally negligent – it concluded his medical condition “should have been apparent to someone in the jail during the three days he was an inmate.”
There were eight other people in Wiley’s cell, many of whom told investigators they believed Wiley could have lived if he had received help sooner, the report states.
According to the investigation, a jail booking officer found Wiley had several fentanyl tablets, which the officer failed to note on the booking form. Wiley said on his intake form that he used fentanyl the day before.
Investigators reviewed jail video, which showed Wiley appearing agitated, unable to sleep and vomiting several times.
Wiley had another person incarcerated with him fill out a medical kite – a written request for treatment or attention – stating he needed to see a nurse to detox. The report states it’s “unclear” whether a guard ever received the kite. A couple of hours later, another incarcerated person told the on-duty corrections officer that Wiley was throwing up and needed help. That officer responded she had to wait to help until another corrections officer returned from his break. When he did return from break, neither of them checked on Wiley, according to the report.
Those two officers’ shifts ended at 6 a.m., and there is “no evidence” they updated the officers taking over for them on Wiley’s condition.
The prosecuting attorney’s office wrote that there wasn’t enough evidence to find the two officers “should have known that their inaction created a substantial risk of death” and that Wiley’s medical condition “was not clearly apparent to them.” The report states their conduct “may” have been “substandard.”
One of those two officers was later fired for not passing probation and the other resigned, according to the fatality review sent to the Legislature.
The officer on duty let Wiley’s cellmate get a mop to clean up his vomit, and it appeared he walked past the medical kite on the ground. At one point, Wiley moved his mattress to the floor near the bathroom.
The jail only employs a nurse during daytime hours. When the nurse started her shift at 7 a.m. the day Wiley died, the investigation stated, she was not notified of his condition or given the medical kite. A few hours later, the video appeared to capture Wiley suffering cardiac arrest while lying on his mattress. About a half-hour later, other people in the cell realized he stopped breathing and notified staff.
The medical examiner later ruled he died from combined drug intoxication including fentanyl and methamphetamine with cardiovascular disease as a contributing factor.
Searle said the kite was found later on in the investigation at the nurse’s station, but it’s unclear how it got there. “There’s an inconsistency there that needs to be reconciled,” Searle said.
Since July 2022, the jail has contracted with Healthcare Delivery Systems for jail medical treatment. A Healthcare Delivery Systems representative declined to answer questions when reached by phone.
The families are planning to file another lawsuit against the contractor, Searle said. The contract between the city and Healthcare Delivery Systems is ongoing.
Jail oversight
Searle said she would like to see the Legislature form a jail oversight body to ensure jails follow their own policies.
“If the investigations move forward in such a way that something like this isn’t actionable criminally, then what safeguards do we have,” Searle said.
A bill introduced during the last legislative session, but which failed to pass, would have created a Washington Jail Council within the office of the governor to monitor jails and investigate complaints.
A lawsuit filed in federal court in March against the city of Issaquah and the SCORE Jail in Des Moines points to another man who died the same year. The lawsuit alleges the man was discharged from the Issaquah Jail and placed into his civilian clothes, which contained fentanyl and methamphetamine. He was then taken to SCORE, where the lawsuit alleges he took the drugs from his civilian clothes with him during booking. He later overdosed in SCORE.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the death rate in Washington jails increased about 176% between 2000 and 2019. During the same period, 18 states saw in-custody death rates decrease overall, and only two states experienced increases greater than Washington’s, according to a 2023 report by the Joint Legislative Task Force on Jail Standards.
The report also stated nearly 80% of the people in Washington jails are being held pretrial, at which point they are presumed innocent.