The parents of a young man who died in custody while going through heroin withdrawal are suing the authorities, saying they failed to properly care for their son.
Tyler Tabor told medical staff at the Adams County Detention Facility, Colorado, he was going through a withdrawal when he was booked on May 14 for on outstanding arrest warrants.
He died three days later from dehydration, but an inquiry by local prosectors concluded the authorities were not to blame and said no criminal charges would be filed over his death.
“It kind of blew us away that no charges are being filed,” Mr Tyler’s father, Ray Tabor, told the 9News television channel. “There are so many things that are wrong in the report.”
His parents said the 25-year-old should not have died from dehydration while still in custody.
“I absolutely feel like they dropped the ball out there and, yeah, they took my son from me out there,” he added.
Mr Tabor said his son had asked for an IV drip. “He was falling on the floor. How do you just pass by that?” MrTabor said.
In the investigative report, a nurse admitted Tabor asked for an IV treatment the night before he died but, “she told him they try not to use IVs unless it's absolutely necessary.”
The young man's mother, Michele McLean, said it was obvious her son needed more than Gatorade. “The fact that he couldn’t even hold his medication to take his pill, that should be a red flag for anybody,” she said.
Mr Tabor's parents have hired a lawyer and said they planned to sure the facility and the private contractor it uses to provide medical services, Corizon Health.
“Addiction is addiction, that doesn’t make that person a bad person,” said Ms McLean.
