Update (4:49 p.m., Oct. 2): Following the publication of this article, a statement from Luther Sutter of Sutter & Gillham, P.L.L.C., attorney for the estate of Atiyana Willis., regarding the lawsuit was sent to JRN. That has been added to the article.

Greene County, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against Greene County Sheriff Brad Snyder and ten unnamed jail employees, alleging that systemic policy failures and a deliberate refusal to provide medical care led to an 18-year-old inmate’s death.

The complaint was filed Thursday, Oct. 1 on behalf of the estate of Atiyana Willis by Victor Britt and Kimberly Britt, who serve as Co-Special Administrators and stood “in loco parentis” (in the place of a parent) to Willis. The filing comes after Snyder announced the firing of nine detention center employees following an internal review of the circumstances surrounding Willis’s Sept. 22 death.

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According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Willis was a pretrial detainee who “experienced observable signs of medical distress” that constituted a serious medical need. The plaintiffs allege that unnamed jail staff “observed her obvious need for medical treatment, but ignored it,” and specifically failed to “summon emergency services” or call EMS as her condition deteriorated.

The complaint does not specify Willis’s exact symptoms or an official medical cause of death. Additionally, the lawsuit targets “John Does 1-10,” which it describes as the currently unidentified officers, employees, or supervisors who participated in the denial or delay of Willis’s care. It has not yet been established through discovery if all nine of the fired employees are included among those defendants.

While the firings address the immediate actions of the jail staff, the lawsuit takes aim at the facility’s broader medical protocols under Snyder’s administration.

At the center of the complaint is the allegation that the jail maintained a “continuing, widespread, and persistent custom of requiring LPNs to practice outside their scope of practice.” The plaintiffs argue that “unqualified personnel made or controlled decisions concerning Willis’s need for medical evaluation or emergency transport rather than referring those decisions promptly to qualified medical professionals.”

The lawsuit places direct blame for the fatal outcome on the sheriff’s policies.

“Snyder had responsibility and authority for the jail,” the complaint states. “He knew that the use of LPN’s to assess patients was in violation of state law. Had a Registered Nurse been employed, Willis would not have died.”

The estate’s attorneys argue Snyder’s failure to hire a registered nurse “reflected deliberate indifference to a known or obvious risk of constitutional injury,” noting he had prior notice of the risks due to two previous in-custody deaths at the facility.

The complaint cites the 2022 death of Marshall Price, explicitly stating that “Price died because an LPN was allowed to practice outside her scope of practice.” The suit notes that during Price’s incarceration, medical care at the jail was provided by a third-party contractor, Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC. However, Turn Key is not named as a defendant in the current complaint regarding Willis.

The suit also points to the 2019 death of Garrett Lee Evers, who authorities said swallowed meth during a traffic stop and was placed in a detox cell where a nurse allegedly determined he did not need hospital assistance. He remained there for two days before being transported to the hospital unresponsive. Both of those deaths resulted in lawsuits against the county.

While both deaths occurred prior to Snyder taking office in January 2023, the lawsuit argues the subsequent litigation gave the sheriff clear notice of the jail’s medical deficiencies, which he failed to correct before Willis died.

The administrators of Willis’s estate are demanding a jury trial and seeking compensatory damages for Willis’s conscious pain and suffering, physical deterioration, and death. They are also seeking punitive damages against the individual defendants. A dollar amount is not specified.

The Arkansas State Police is currently conducting an independent investigation into Willis’s death, and her official cause of death is pending an autopsy by the Arkansas State Crime Lab.

When reached by JRN on Friday afternoon, Snyder said he had “no comment at this time” regarding the lawsuit’s allegations.

In a statement provided to JRN late Friday afternoon, Luther Sutter of Sutter & Gillham, P.L.L.C., attorney for the estate of Atiyana Willis, emphasized that the termination of jail staff does not resolve the core issues raised by the family.

“Firing nine jail employees does not answer the questions this lawsuit raises,” Sutter told JRN. “The complaint challenges the jail’s policies, its training and supervision of staff, and its medical staffing — all of which are the Sheriff’s responsibility. We intend to find out exactly what happened to Atiyana, under oath and on the record, and to hold everyone responsible to account.”

Sutter noted that Snyder recently stated every person in his custody deserves to be cared for and treated with dignity.

“We agree,” Sutter said. “The lawsuit we filed on October 1 on behalf of Atiyana’s estate alleges that she did not get the medical care she needed in the Greene County jail, and that she died because of it.”

Sutter added that his office is asking anyone with information about Willis’s time in the jail to call their office at 501-315-1910.

This is a developing story. JRN will provide updates as they are available.

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