No Water For Week Led To Jail Dehydration Death

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Prosecutors say Milwaukee County Jail officers cut off an inmate's water for seven consecutive days before the man died of dehydration.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  reports that Assistant District Attorney Kurt Bentley told jurors at an inquest Monday that Terrill Thomas was mentally unstable and unable to ask for help before he died in his cell in April 2016.

Thomas had been placed in solitary confinement after he used a mattress to flood his cell in another jail unit.

The jury will issue a verdict on whether criminal charges are warranted in Thomas' death. The jury's recommendation is advisory.

Separately, Thomas' children have filed a federal civil suit, saying their father's treatment by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and his staff amounts to torture.