No criminal charges will be pursued related to the death of an inmate found lying on the floor of the Sebastian County jail in March, according to the prosecuting attorney for the 12th Judicial District.
Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue said in a news release Monday that he had completed his review of an investigative report into the death of Douglas Jay Gunter and had reached the conclusion that no charges could be filed against anyone.
According to the letter Shue sent to Cpl. Dale Bailey of the Arkansas State Police, a jailer found Gunter lying on the floor of his cell about 4:40 a.m. March 9 with a small gash on his head, "like he had fallen and injured himself." Gunter, 64, was taken by Fort Smith Emergency Medical Services to Baptist Health Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith, where he died the next day.
Shue said in the letter that he had reviewed the entire Arkansas State Police investigative file, which included reports from the state police and the Sebastian County sheriff's office, an autopsy report, and interviews with jail staff.
Shue told Bailey that an autopsy performed March 12 revealed Gunter was suffering from "multifocal necrotizing bronchopneumonia," a rare and severe complication of bacterial pneumonia, and that he had a broken rib. Dr. Stephen A. Erickson of the Arkansas Crime Leboratory performed the autopsy and listed the manner of death as "undetermined," according to Shue.
Shue said the investigation did not reveal how Gunter's rib was broken or when it occurred, and went on to say the injury may have happened before Gunter was arrested.
"Considering the totality of the circumstances and the applicable law, no criminal charges can be brought at this time," Shue said.
Gunter was arrested by Fort Smith officer Darroyl Sanders on Oct. 6, 2018, after he pulled a knife on Brian Rincon, the owner of Crane Clothing Co., according to a police report.
Rincon told police that an employee, Savannah Parker, called him and said that a homeless man, Gunter, had entered the store and refused to leave. Gunter eventually left and went across the street after piling his belongings next to the store and telling Parker to watch them for him.
Rincon said that after he arrived at the store, he asked Gunter to move his things but Gunter refused. Rincon told Sanders that he moved Gunter's belongings to the edge of the property, at which point Gunter pulled out a knife and began yelling at him, according to the report.
Parker told police that Gunter accidentally knocked over a store sign, was refused entry to the store but went in anyway, and that he was slurring his words.
"I couldn't understand half of what he was saying," Parker said in the report.
Parker told police that she locked the door when Gunter exited, at which point Gunter became enraged and began throwing the store sign around, the report said. She said Rincon ordered Gunter to leave, and Gunter pulled a knife and began threatening Rincon with it and telling him that he had a gun.
Sanders said in the report that he arrived on the scene and found Gunter waving a knife, acting as though he were reaching for a gun, and yelling at everyone on the scene. Once Gunter was detained, police found a revolver-style pistol on him as well as the knife, the report said.
State Desk on 06/18/2019