Parents fight for reform at Island County Jail after son dies of dehydration

The last memory Fred Farris has of his son was a month before he died. Keaton Farris, 25, took a break from his job splitting wood on Lopez Island to visit his sisters.

That was in March. Weeks later, Fred would be looking at the body of his son after he succumbed to dehydration and malnutrition at the Island County Jail. It prompted the family to push for reform and file a claim for wrongful death, accusing the jail of ignoring Keaton’s health problems and letting him waste away in jail with the water turned off as his mental state deteriorated.

“People have seen a pattern &#8212 where do these elected officials step in and say oh, okay, this is my job? This is what I’ve been elected to do. I need to make sure people are safe in this jail,” Fred said.

It all started when Keaton was picked up on a bench warrant on March 20 in Lynnwood, the same day he missed a hearing for allegedly stealing a check. His parents say he told the arresting officer he was off his medication for bipolar disorder and suffering from anxiety, but that he went into custody quietly.

For almost a week, Keaton was shuffled around from the Lynnwood Jail, to the Snohomish County Jail, to Skagit, then finally to Island County. By that time, Keaton had been off his medication for days and was uncooperative with corrections officers and deputies when he was moved.

On day 10, March 30, deputies turned off the water in Keaton’s cell after he used a pillow to flood it. And in the early morning hours of April 8, Keaton was found dead of dehydration, naked in his cell.

His father, Fred, still can’t understand how it could have happened.

“He was in trouble, the first interaction with a police officer was ‘I’m off my meds, I need help, your badge is comforting me,’ and from there on he wasn’t given his medication,” Fred said. “Once he got to Island County, he wasn’t given any health care. He was finally seen by a nurse after 12 days, the day before he died. And honestly, it was probably too late at that point.”

According to an internal investigation, jail officers were supposed to check up on Keaton every hour and offer him water, but on the day he died, staff missed checks hours at a time and went so far as to fake the log.

In a statement, Island County Sheriff Mark Brown admits the jail didn’t follow its own policies.

“I am truly sorry for this tragic death. Mr. Farris did not receive the attention and care he needed. Our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our inmates and staff and this report describes a systematic breakdown of policies, procedures and communication that led to this tragedy,” Brown said.

Some reforms are already in the works. Two corrections officers under investigation for the missed checks have resigned, while the jail chief was suspended for 30 days without pay. Another senior officer was placed on administrative leave. Sheriff Brown also hired an independent investigator to review operations and make changes.

The investigation notes that there were just 18 employees at the jail at the time Keaton died responsible for 24 hour supervision of 52 inmates, which could have been a factor.

But the family says it goes deeper. Part of their lawsuit alleges they weren’t allowed to see their son. Fred said he tried to check up on him by phone and arrange a visit, but that he couldn’t be accommodated outside normal visiting hours. When he asked if Keaton was getting his medication, but he says he didn’t get a straight answer and was continually told by the jail’s second-in-command that Keaton was doing fine. He said Keaton’s aunt was allowed one visit, but turned away every other day she showed up.

Keaton’s mother, Tiffany Ferrians, says the jail staff lacked compassion and did the bare minimum, sending food and water in but not checking if her son, whose mental state was deteriorating, was eating. She wants more training so staff can recognize psychiatric health problems in the future and develop strategies to help inmates.

The suit also accuses jail staff of being “deliberately indifferent” to the well-being of inmates. In an internal report, an Island County deputy says Keaton got less than a quarter of the water he needed for basic survival.

“I trusted, I mean I was told by several people, including his therapist, that jail serves a purpose and that he’s not going to be in a safer place because he’s got eyes on him 24/7. It’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life that I trusted the system,” Fred said. “But beyond broken system, these are broken people that disregarded human life. And it’s sad that we walk among people that are like that.”