On Sept. 15, the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the April 24 death of Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office inmate Terrill Thomas a homicide.
According to FOX6 News, Thomas — charged in connection with the April 15 shooting at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino — died of dehydration while serving as an inmate.
On April 24, Thomas was found unresponsive in his jail cell.
Officials serving under Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke told media that Thomas had no visible signs of trauma that day.
They also reported that nurses and officers tried to resuscitate the inmate. But he died 37 minutes after officials found him unresponsive.
“It’s extremely concerning,” the Thomas family attorney, Erik Heipt, says. “And seems to confirm some of the information that we had uncovered in the course of our investigation.”
Furthermore, Heipt says guards cut off water to Thomas’ cell, including his toilet.
According the Journal Sentinel, the inmate was denied water for at least six days.
FOX6 News reports that Thomas had a history of mental illness, including manic bipolar disorder.
