
Parents of man who died in Colorado jail say nurses, deputies ignored his pleas for 15 hours
The lawsuit blames them, local government officials and Southern Health Partners for failing to stop the death of Daniel Foard in 2023 by taking him to the hospital. Foard, 32, was a cook at a brewpub and user of fentanyl who was arrested for failing to appear in court. After being segregated and monitored for withdrawal from the synthetic opioid, he began vomiting and complained of stomach pain after being put in a regular jail cell, it said.
The lawsuit alleges Southern Health Partners — the Tennessee-based company they contracted with to provide health care at the La Plata County jail — has tried to maximize its profits at the jail by only having one nurse on duty at a time, leaving it to medically untrained deputies to monitor sick inmates. The company holds hundred of contracts at jails around the country and the lawsuit alleges that is has been involved in lawsuits related to the deaths of at least five other jail inmates nationally.
The company's lawyer, Shira Crittendon, said she had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on it.
The sheriff's office referred questions about the the lawsuit to a county spokesperson. In a statement, the county said it had not analyzed the allegations in the lawsuit and does not comment publicly on active litigation.
Autopsy found Foard died because of an ulcer
Foard was found dead in the jail on Aug. 17, 2023, six days after he was arrested.
An autopsy found Foard died as a result of a hole created by an ulcer in his small intestine, which caused inflammation of the tissue lining his abdomen. Such ulcers can let food and digestive juices leak out of the body's digestive tract.
Fentanyl was found in Foard's blood but the autopsy report did not name that as a cause of his death. Dr. Michael Arnall ruled Foard's death was due to natural causes.
On Aug. 15, 2023, even though Foard had collapsed several times and had trouble standing, he was moved out of an area where he could be more easily observed for problems with his withdrawal and put into a regular jail cell, staggering as we went, the lawsuit said. The day nurse ignored a deputy's concern that he was very unstable, according to the lawsuit brought by lawyers Dan Weiss, Anna Holland Edwards, John Holland and Erica Grossman.
After a deputy delivering breakfast on Aug. 16, 2023 saw that Foard repeatedly fell while trying to get his tray, the jail's day nurse came to check on him, it said. She recorded that Foard reported he had sharp, shooting pain that was a '10' on a scale of one to 10, but she did not call for a doctor or send him to the hospital, it said.
The nurse moved Foard to an empty cell where he could be monitored but didn't tell deputies what he was being monitored for and didn't order any follow up care or check on him, it said. He vomited all day and was moved to another cell and then a third because they had all become so messy with vomit, it said. Surveillance video showed him crawling to the final cell, where it said he continuously called out for help and yelled that he needed to go to a hospital, saying he was vomiting blood. The lawsuit claims that no one responded to his pleas but one deputy could be heard on surveillance video telling him to 'try to hit that drain' with his vomit to keep the cell from becoming dirty.
Another nurse, working the evening shift, only walked by his cell and glanced inside, but did not assess him or provide care as he was pleading for help, the lawsuit said. When she did enter his cell around 10 p.m., Foard was dead, it said. She told state investigators that vomiting was normal for people withdrawing from fentanyl.
State authorities investigated Foard's death
The day shift nurse later told a state investigator that it was not unusual that Foard would not have had his vital signs checked for 12 hours because of the number of inmates the jail's nurses need to provide care, according to a report from an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations. She also said she didn't think there was anything different she could have done based on Foard's symptoms.
The bureau's findings were forwarded to the 6th District Attorney's Office, which would decide whether any criminal charges were warranted in connection with Foard's death. It's not known whether the office decided to pursue any charges. A telephone message and email sent to District Attorney Sean Murray were not immediately returned.
In a statement, Jim Foard and Susan Gizinski said they want everyone to know about their son's ordeal both to hold those they say are responsible for his death accountable and to change how inmates are treated at the jail.
'Just basic training in having compassion for others would be a great start. But adding more staff is critical too,' they said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
Two Southwest flight attendants injured after jet dives to avoid collision
WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - Two flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines (LUV.N), opens new tab flight departing Burbank, California, were injured on Friday after pilots took evasive action to dodge another aircraft on takeoff, the airline said. Southwest Flight 1496 sharply descended nearly 500 feet, according to flight tracking websites, marking the second time in a week that a U.S. commercial jet was forced to make abrupt flight maneuvers to avoid a potential mid-air collision. The airline and the Federal Aviation Administration said the Southwest pilots took action after receiving cockpit alerts of other aircraft traffic being dangerously close. The Southwest Boeing 737 continued on to Las Vegas, where it landed uneventfully. The aircraft that the Southwest flight avoided was not immediately identified. The FAA was investigating. Two flight attendants were treated for injuries, the airline said, without providing detail. No injuries were immediately reported by passengers, according to Southwest. But one passenger told Fox News Digital the sharp descent stirred panic onboard. "It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash," Caitlin Burdi said in an on-camera interview. After the incident, "the pilot came on (the intercom), and he told us we almost collided with another plane." According to a statement from Southwest, the incident began when its crew responded to "two onboard traffic alerts" while taking off from the Hollywood Burbank Airport north of Los Angeles, "requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts." In a separate incident one week ago, a SkyWest Airlines (SKYW.O), opens new tab jet operating as a Delta Connection (DAL.N), opens new tab flight from Minneapolis reported taking evasive action to avoid a possible collision with a U.S. Air Force bomber during a landing approach over North Dakota on July 18. The FAA said on Monday it was investigating last Friday's near-miss incident involving SkyWest Flight 3788, an Embraer ( opens new tab ERJ-175 regional jet, which landed safely at Minot, North Dakota. The Air Force confirmed a B-52 jet bomber assigned to Minot Air Force Base had conducted a ceremonial flyover of the North Dakota State Fair last Friday around the time of the SkyWest incident. The Air Force said the bomber cockpit crew was in contact with local air traffic control before, during and after the flyover, and that the Minot International Airport control tower "did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft" as the B-52 was departing the area. The incident remains under FAA investigation, the Air Force said.


Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kaylee Goncalves' sister describes what was like to face killer Bryan Kohberger: 'He is not human'
The sister of Kaylee Goncalves, who was murdered by Bryan Kohberger, has recounted the chilling moment she came eye-to-eye with her sibling's killer. Alivea Goncalves delivered a fiery and unwavering victim impact statement during Kohberger's sentencing in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday, directly confronting the quadruple murderer and commanding him to 'sit up straight when I talk to you.' In an interview released Friday with NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin, Alivea recounted the moments leading up to her powerful courtroom statement, delivered in the harrowing presence of her sister's killer. She explained that no words could truly convey the reality of standing just feet from him - and the only way she could describe it was: 'He is not human.' 'When I tell you... there is not a human there,' she said during the interview. 'I'm not scared of this individual, I'm not intimidated by him - truly I'm not,' she added. 'But when I tell you there is... a primal sense of alarms. My body was telling me, "Run. Get out. This is a threat. This is not a human capacity."' Alivea has since been widely praised on social media for her powerful victim impact statement, where she spoke with unwavering confidence - directly confronting Kohberger and boldly calling out his failures. While speaking with Entin, she explained that although she initially felt confident in her words, once inside the courtroom, the overwhelming emotions made her fear that her statement might not fully do justice to the victims and their families. It wasn't until her father, Steve Goncalves - known for his outspoken presence since the murders - boldly turned the podium toward the defendant, despite warnings not to, that the atmosphere in the courtroom 'shifted.' As she sat in the pews, making last-minute tweaks and notes to her statement while listening to others deliver their emotional speeches, she steeled herself to deliver hers - determined to say everything she had been planning. 'My speech wasn't to Kaylee and Maddie - it was for them,' she said during the interview. 'If Kaylee and Maddie had been here today, it would have been something that I feel like would have rung true to them.' Her goal, she explained, was to hold eye contact with him for as long as she could - but as she stared into his eyes, every instinct in her told her she wasn't looking at a human being. 'The best description I can give you is, like, if I had come face-to-face with an alien,' she described. 'Because, back behind there, there's no human being - there's no humanity.' Alivea recalled seeing 'raw anger' and 'raw rage' in Kohberger's eyes as she confronted him, but despite the intensity, her focus remained steadfast - seeking justice for her sister Kaylee and Madison. 'I could feel that specific stare the entire time. It was unrelenting,' she explained. 'All I remember feeling is, "This guy's pissed,"' she added. 'This is anger I've never experienced firsthand before.' 'I was ready to stand on business. There was nothing that was going to make me back down from that moment. All I felt was rage, almost from the very beginning.' During Alivea's blistering impact statement on Wednesday, she said: 'I wont stand her and give you what you want. I wont give you tears instead. I will call you what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer.' 'The truth is you're basic. You're a textbook case as insecurity disguised as control. You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath,' she added. 'You're as dumb as they come. Stupid, dumb, weak, dirty', Alivea continued, before she then hit him with the very same questions that Kohberger posed in a survey on Reddit as part of his criminology degree at DeSales University. She went on to blast Kohberger's past and all his failings, including unanswered questions in the Idaho murder case. Alivea told Kohberger he was a 'delusional, pathetic, hypochondriadic loser' who 'thought you were so much better than everyone else.' In a damning conclusion, she added: 'If you hadn't attacked them in your sleep like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f****** ass.' The courtroom erupted in clapping at the end of Alivea's statement. Koberger remained emotionless throughout. 'My whole purpose of that speech was taking back this power and giving it back to Kaylee and Maddie. Xana and Ethan as well. I wanted to give them the hero moment that I truly feel like they deserve,' she told Entin regarding her statement. 'For me, it was about taking back that control from him… getting under his skin, as best as I psychologically could with my limited understanding of what he is,' she added. 'It was all genuine. It was all incredibly true. Everything I did say was accurate to who he is and who they were.' In the closing moments of her interview, filmed less than 24 hours after the sentencing, Alivea told Entin with conviction, 'I truly believe Kaylee would've kicked his ass.' Kohberger, a 30-year-old PhD candidate, declined to speak at the hearing as he was told he would spend the remainder of his life behind bars without parole.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
A grenade is missing from the scene of an explosion that killed 3 LA deputies
A grenade is missing from the scene of an explosion that killed three Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, Sheriff Robert Luna said Friday. The July 18 blast at a sheriff's department training facility killed three experienced deputies on the arson and explosives team. The deputies were working on two grenades that had been taken into custody by authorities. One of the grenades detonated, and other is unaccounted for, Luna said. That information came from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which is investigating the explosion. Luna said authorities X-rayed special enforcement bureau vehicles, searched all around the blast area and examined office spaces and even the gym and haven't found it. 'You get the drift. We have looked at everything out there that we possibly could,' he said, adding that no one from the public has had access to the area.