LAS VEGAS — A Nevada inmate died after being pepper-sprayed by guards, locked in a storage room, handcuffed and tied face down to the floor, according to an autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press.
The death of Patrick Odale on December 28, 2023, at the Southern Desert Correctional Center has been ruled a homicide.
The coroner’s report, completed in late August, follows a nearly nine-month investigation into Odale’s death at the medium-security jail near Las Vegas. The Clark County coroner’s office found that Odale, who was 39, died of ” positional and mechanical asphyxia in the context of restraint in law enforcement.”
Michael Freeman, an Oregon forensic pathologist who was not involved in the study, said “mechanical and positional asphyxia” typically occurs when someone is held facedown with hands behind the back while pressure is applied to the torso, arms or neck.
Low levels of methamphetamine and xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, were also found in Odale’s system. The coroner described the drugs as a “significant factor” in his death.
The Nevada The Department of Corrections did not release details, including that Odale was being held when it announced his death in a January press release.
A department spokesman declined to comment on the autopsy report Thursday, citing the agency’s “ongoing investigation.” No information was released about how Odale was able to access drugs while in custody, how many officers were involved or whether any of them were disciplined. A spokesman for Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office did not respond to an email asking whether it was investigating the guards involved in Odale’s death.
Odale, a father of two, was sentenced in early 2023 to a maximum of two years in prison for possession of a stolen credit card and attempting to carry a concealed weapon, court documents show.
According to the autopsy, officers said Odale was “erratic and growling” toward them on the night of his death. Guards pepper-sprayed him and held him in a storage room with garden tools for several minutes until he “began to thrash around the room,” the report said. Officers then pulled him to the ground, restrained him and took him to the jail’s infirmary.
According to the autopsy, Narcan was administered by prison and medical staff, a overdose medicineseveral times.
As part of the coroner’s investigation, the medical examiner charged with determining the cause and manner of Odale’s death reviewed video of the incident. The autopsy report notes that there may be a gap in the footage.
The footage, as described by the coroner in the report, shows Odale groaning as he is taken to the prison infirmary. He lies face down, his hands cuffed behind his back. Then, the autopsy says, “after a pause, the video resumes,” showing prison staff performing CPR on an unresponsive Odale.
“When the video resumes, the inmate is lying face up with his hands cuffed in front,” the coroner wrote, meaning his hands were no longer cuffed behind him, but in front of his body.
He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
The coroner ruled that Odale died from being strapped into a position that made it difficult for him to breathe, and from the effects of his recent drug use.
Amy Estrada, the mother of Odale’s son and daughter, said Friday that Odale is a kind person and a loving father who would not think twice about giving his last dollar to someone in need.
Three days before Odale died, Estrada and their children were finally allowed by the prison to visit Odale. Estrada said Odale told them over the phone, “Finally, we’re seeing each other!”
His children were unable to visit him before he died.
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Former Associated Press journalist Gabe Stern contributed to this report from Reno, Nevada.