An infirm, 64-year-old inmate at the Harnett County jail who was just 10 days away from release died in his cell after he was assaulted, says an autopsy released Friday.
The state medical examiner’s office found that the death of William Surles, a retired farm worker who had severe diabetes and needed a walker to get around, was a homicide. No one has been arrested in the case.
Surles was nearing the end of a month-long sentence for a probation violation when a nurse found him dead in his cell the morning of Dec. 19, 2022 the medical examiner’s report said. His left eye was swollen and his right eyebrow had a small cut. Blood stains found on the cell walls were inconsistent with a fall, the report said.
He received several blows to his head, the report said. “Foul play is suspected,” it noted.
The nurse reported Surles’ cellmate, who wasn’t identified, was asleep on the floor. The last interaction Surles had with jail staff was the night before, between 6 and 7 p.m., and he showed no signs of injury.
Surles is among five inmates in the past six years to have died after a violent encounter in North Carolina’s county jails, according to autopsy reports and law enforcement records. In all of those cases, state Department of Health and Human Services investigations found that jail staff did not properly monitor the inmates.
That’s a systemic problem in the county jails, which are run by sheriffs. The News & Observer has found that roughly a third of all jail deaths involve a lack of required supervision, often because detention officers aren’t making timely checks on inmates. The annual death toll in North Carolina’s jails has been climbing the past six years.
Disability Rights North Carolina, a nonprofit that looks out for those with mental and physical disabilities, has also been tracking jail deaths. Susan Pollitt, a supervising attorney, said the jails need to be more transparent about the problems they face.
“We need mandatory reports on the numbers of attempted suicides and other serious occurrences,” she said in an emailed message. “Until the problems are acknowledged and shared things will not improve.”
The DHHS investigation into Surles’ death said Harnett County detention officers should have checked him at least 44 times in the 22 hours leading up to his death, but the DHHS found only 32 checks. The jail’s administrator could not identify the officer who last checked on Surles.
Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats called upon the SBI to investigate Surles death. On Friday, Coats referred a reporter’s questions about the death to the SBI, which did not return an emailed request for comment.
Harnett County District Attorney Suzanne Matthews also could not be reached.
Jesse Womble Jones, an attorney working on behalf of Surles’ family, said Friday they are upset by the findings. He said they’ve been kept in the dark about the circumstances surrounding Surles’ death.
The autopsy also found that Surles’ history of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease contributed to his death.
jaildeath-surles-autopsyreport by Dan Kane on Scribd
jaildeath-surles-MEreport by Dan Kane on Scribd