x
Breaking News
More () »

'Disheartening' | Family releases statement after nurse indicted in death of John Neville at Forsyth County Jail

A grand jury decided to not indict five Forsyth County jail officers in the death of John Neville.

FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — Court documents in Forsyth County say a grand jury indicted a nurse in the death of John Neville. Michelle Heughins is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Court officials said that a grand jury decided to not indict five officers in Neville's death.

Sean Neville, John's son, said he was disappointed in the indictment. 

"I was a little confused, dismayed, just because of the sheer volume of evidence there is. There’s the video, the coroner's report. All of these pieces that clearly show everyone was involved in his death, not just the nurse. So it's difficult to see how they can come to the decision to indict one and not everybody," he said. 

Neville died in the Forsyth County Jail in 2019. Neville's son filed a lawsuit in September 2021 against the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department, five detention officers, and a nurse after his father's death.

The lawsuit alleges, “the detention officers and nurse who purported to assist Mr. Neville altogether failed to recognize the seriousness of his condition or to follow the policies set in place for handling inmates or detainees with serious health problems or who are experiencing a medical emergency."

Sean said the images from the body camera video that was released are still seared into his mind. 

"Those images will never go away. I'll never forget. But as much as I'd like to not think about it, I think about it a lot. Really for myself, and for all of us, that was the last time we saw him alive. Those words you heard on the video were the last time we heard his voice. So those images, they stick, because that’s the last time we ever saw any signs of life in him," Sean said.

Officials said Neville fell from his bunk after suffering an unknown medical condition, and staff moved him to an observation cell. An autopsy report revealed Neville died from a brain injury after he was restrained.

Neville's death sparked protests around the city of Winston-Salem back in August 2020. Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough announced the department banned the bent-leg prone restraint, a tactic the jail staff used on Neville before he died. 

The Neville family released the following statement after the decision to indict:

"As our family continues to watch our father’s violent death replayed before a national audience, we remain hopeful that some court will acknowledge the wrongdoing that led to this atrocity. While we appreciate the effort of Jim O’Neill and his office in submitting these matters to the Grand Jury, it is disheartening that the videos of our father gasping for air and begging for mercy while he was bound and suffocated do not seem to have gained any purchase with Forsyth County or Wellpath Care. It is shameful that another Black life has been extinguished at the hands of law enforcement and yet still, there is no accountability and no justice. We will continue to fight for what is right and just."

Sean said the discovery process into the civil suit continues, and their goal is to remind everyone of the value of his father's life. 

"We're not out for vengeance or revenge really, it's just about spreading that message and having that understanding that my father was a human being even if he was in jail he was a person. His life had value and it was taken and our goal is to just make that right," he said.

Stay connected to local, national, and breaking news: Download the WFMY News 2 app. 

Text the word APP to 336-379-5775

DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE

DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE

Before You Leave, Check This Out