Kansas Judge Dismisses Deputy's 2nd-Degree Murder Charge in 2025 Jail Death
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 27
Kansas Judge Dismisses Deputy's 2nd-Degree Murder Charge in 2025 Jail Death
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 27
Summary
Wyandotte County Judge Aaron Roberts dismissed the second-degree murder case against Deputy Richard Fatherley, ruling prosecutors had not met the burden to move the case from a preliminary hearing to trial.
Prosecutors immediately filed a notice of appeal after the Thursday decision, saying they disagreed with dropping all charges.
Fatherley had been accused in the July 2025 death of Charles Adair, a handcuffed inmate who was later found unresponsive after the deputy allegedly knelt on his lower back in a jail cell.
Adair, arrested on misdemeanor traffic-warrant charges and using a wheelchair, was later pronounced dead; an autopsy classified the death as a homicide.
The case drew regional outcry in Kansas City last year, and Adair's death remains the subject of an unresolved federal lawsuit.