Former Colorado deputies get prison for detox van death
ABC News
Two former Colorado sheriff’s deputies have been sentenced to prison for causing the death of an intoxicated man by placing him on his stomach and squeezing him into a van to take him to a detox center
BOULDER, Colo. -- Two former Colorado sheriff’s deputies were sentenced to prison Thursday for causing the death of an intoxicated man by placing him on his stomach and squeezing him into a van to take him to a detox center.
Former Boulder County sheriff’s deputies James O’Brien and Adam Lunn were sentenced to six years and three years respectively for the 2018 death of 23-year-old Demetrius Shankling. O'Brien and Lunn were found guilty in August of manslaughter.
According to an arrest affidavit, they put the 6-foot-tall (1.8-meter-tall) man, with his hands behind his back, in a compartment that was less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. O’Brien and Lunn had to press on the compartment door to close it, causing Shankling’s leg to become wedged against the inside of the door, the affidavit said.
When they reached the detox center in the early hours of Sept. 9, 2018, Shankling was unresponsive and not breathing. He died after spending 27 days in a coma.
