BECKLEY – The estate of a Raleigh County man says deputies are responsible for him hanging himself in a jail cell.
Ruth Crawford, as executrix of the estate of Martin R. Crawford, filed her complaint December 10 in federal court against the Raleigh County Commission, Corporal Roy McDaniel Jr., Deputy Jacob Eller, Corporal Jason Redden, Corporal Bo Garrett and Sergeant Gary Epling.
Ruth Crawford is Martin Crawford’s sister.
According to the complaint, Martin Crawford was suffering from a severe mental health crisis on December 12, 2023, and barricaded himself in the bathroom of his house in Cool Ridge. He believed Russia was invading the United States, and he became suicidal and threatened to blow himself up in the house by igniting a propane tank.
A friend called 911 and requested a welfare check on Crawford. The deputy defendants were dispatched to the home.
“Instead of taking Mr. Crawford to the hospital, the deputy defendants arrested Mr. Crawford and took him to the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office,” the complaint states. “It was indicated that they would obtain the issuance of a mental hygiene order, but they did not transport him to a medical facility, instead confining him in a cell at the Sheriff’s department.”
Crawford was placed in a holding cell with various items, including strings from his shoes and jacket, according to the complaint.
He was “left unsupervised despite the direct knowledge of the individual deputy defendants that Mr. Crawford was suffering from a serious medical crisis and, due to his mental health, was suicidal.”
That same day, Crawford hanged himself with a shoestring and jacket string, resulting in his death.
“It was more than an hour later before any deputy even checked on his condition,” the complaint states.
Security footage shows Crawford went to the restroom area behind a privacy partition in his holding cell shortly after his arrival. The footage shows Crawford with a black string in his hands before running it through a metal restraint loop on a bench. He then wrapped the string around his neck and went back behind the partition.
The footage then shows Crawford’s head moving around and dropping from view. Eventually, Crawford’s foot comes from behind the partition, and then there is no movement for nearly 45 minutes until McDaniel discovers him. No one checked on Crawford for 62 minutes.
During that time, McDaniel secured the mental hygiene order for Crawford.
The estate says the defendants should have known of Crawford’s health conditions “as they had previously encountered him displaying erratic and confused behavior.” He had been arrested and jailed on multiple occasions.
And that day at the home, “friends and neighbors of Mr. Crawford advised them of his history of mental health concerns and erratic behavior, his apparent intoxication and/or confusion and statements that he intended to commit suicide by blowing up his house.”
One friend said Crawford had disposed of his televisions because he believed someone was watching everything he did. He also claimed someone had stolen his identity.
The deputy defendants also heard Crawford threaten suicide by blowing up his house with a propane tank as well as his belief that “Russians had invaded parts of West Virginia,” specifically Summersville where “they were going to take prisoners.”
The estate says the defendants ignored and were indifferent to Crawford’s needs. It accuses the deputy defendants of deliberate indifference, failure to protect, failure to provide medical care. It accuses the commission of negligent training, negligent supervision, negligent retention, negligence, violations of the West Virginia Human Rights Act and a Monell liability.
Crawford’s estate seeks compensatory damages, general damages, punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The estate is being represented by L. Dante diTrapano, Amanda J. Davis and Charles F. Bellomy of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by W. Jesse Forbes and Jennifer N. Taylor of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:25-cv-729
