Sheriff investigating death of disabled man in jail cell

FORT SMITH — The Sebastian County sheriff’s office is investigating the death last week of a mentally disabled man who was found unresponsive with a head injury in a county jail cell.

Doctors at Sparks Regional Medical Center declared John David Davenport, 25, brain dead on Wednesday after he was brought in from the county jail, Sebastian County Coroner Kenny Hobbs said Monday.

Davenport’s family signed a release to donate his organs, Hobbs said. After organs were donated, he said, Davenport’s body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for autopsy.

Davenport was arrested by Fort Smith police on the morning of Sept. 10 at an apartment at 2100 N. 31st St., where he was living and receiving services from a caregiver provided by Bost Human Development Services.

A police report said Davenport, who was described as autistic, attacked a caregiver, spit on him and ripped his shirt. The report said Davenport would randomly become upset, rush up to a person and spit in his face.

He was arrested when he spit in the face of an officer who had responded to a call for assistance at the apartment. A police news release said spitting in the face of a police officer constituted aggravated assault. He also was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear in court, the release said.

Davenport also was arrested Aug. 30 outside his apartment for getting into a fight and spitting on people who were trying to stop Davenport from fighting with a Bost caregiver, according to a police report.

The Sept. 10 report said officials at Bost and Adult Protective Services were attempting to place Davenport in a facility but the admissions paperwork was incomplete. It was decided to place Davenport in the county jail because it was not known when the paperwork would

be complete.

A statement from Bost said officials from multiple agencies had been working for weeks on a safe and appropriate place for Davenport that would address his needs.

“A final plan was ready and should have been implemented Wednesday morning, but John’s accident stopped everything,” the statement said.

Authorities in Sebastian County have been diverting people with mental disabilities

to a regional Crisis Stabilization Unit that opened in March at the Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center. The unit serves as an alternative to putting people with mental disabilities in jail.

“In this particular instance, his actions, along with a lawful warrant for arrest, did not give [Fort Smith Police Department] officers any other choice but incarceration,” the release said.

A news release from the sheriff’s office said Davenport was placed in protective custody because of his mental disabilities. He was housed in

a cell by himself and checked by jailers every 15 minutes.

Davenport was checked about 6:40 a.m. Wednesday by a jailer, the news release said.

He was given his morning medication and the jailer spoke with him.

The jailer was making his final rounds about 6:51 a.m. before going off duty when he looked into Davenport’s cell and saw him lying on the floor. Emergency medical services were then called.

The release said the deputy noticed that it appeared Davenport had hit his head,

but it couldn’t be determined if Davenport had a seizure and fell and hit his head. He’d been suffering from seizures but was given medication for it.

He was transported to Sparks, where Hobbs said doctors performed surgery on Davenport and found he had a brain injury.

An initial review of the video of the cell area did not show anyone entering the cell where Davenport was being held between welfare checks by the jailer.