The family of a man who died from an apparent drug overdose in a St. Albans prison is suing the state. The complaint, filed this month in Franklin County civil court, alleges that prison staff didn’t provide adequate care to their son.
Jeffery Nichols, 35, died on Sept. 10, 2023, at Northwest State Correctional Facility. Prison staff found him unresponsive in the booking area 27 hours after he’d been brought in on a domestic assault charge. The medical examiner’s office determined Nichols’ death was an accident caused by intoxication from fentanyl and hydroxyzine.
“Our family has still not got any [closure] on my son’s death,” Tony Nichols said in a text message to Vermont Public on Thursday. “Until this matter has been closed it is very hard to move on.”
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The lawsuit, first reported by WCAX, alleges that prison and medical staff failed to monitor Nichols as he went through severe drug withdrawal.
Nichols told a nurse in the facility that he’d used heroin and smoked cocaine on the evening he got arrested and that he was detoxing, according to the lawsuit. Based on that information, the complaint states, Nichols was placed on “close observation checks” that were supposed to occur every 15 minutes.
Nichols’ withdrawal symptoms included feeling shaky, having trouble lifting his head and vomiting, according to the lawsuit.
Prison and medical staff allegedly last interacted with Nichols at 8:57 p.m. on Sept. 9 and afterwards only "observed him” without making close checks to see if he was breathing, the lawsuit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 10, prison staff asked Nichols if he wanted food and didn’t get a response. A correctional officer went into the cell and found Nichols cold to the touch and stiff. He had been dead for at least four hours at that point, the lawsuit alleges.
The Department of Corrections declined to comment. Wellpath, the prison system’s private health care contractor, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In an interview last year, Nichols’ father, Tony, described his son as a devoted father and hunting enthusiast who struggled with opiate use throughout his life.
Jeffery had been planning to build a house for his daughter on a plot of land he owned.
“He had been doing good,” Tony said.
Vermont State Police, the Defender General’s office and the Department of Corrections all conduct investigations after someone dies in prison, though the results of those reviews are rarely made public.
The corrections department has started posting summaries of some of its death investigations, but hasn’t posted any beyond 2022, according to its website. Defender General Matt Valerio declined to share his office’s findings about Nichols’ death or to comment on the pending lawsuit.
Vermont State Police didn’t immediately respond on Wednesday to a records request for its death investigation. Franklin County State’s Attorney Bram Kranichfeld, whose office received the state police case last year for review, declined to comment, citing the litigation.
