Oklahoma sheriff, 3 others charged in death of inmate

ENID, Okla. – An Oklahoma sheriff and three others face manslaughter charges in the 2016 death of an inmate who authorities say spent more than two days in a restraint chair without food or water.

The Enid News and Eagle reports that Garfield County Sheriff Jerry Niles; his daughter-in-law, then-jail administrator Jennifer Shay Niles; and jailers John Robert Markus and Shawn Caleb Galusha were charged Wednesday with first-degree manslaughter.

They’re accused in the death of Anthony Dewayne Huff. He died in June 2016, four days after being arrested on a complaint of public intoxication.

They originally faced a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, but prosecutors dismissed those cases in December and said they planned to file new charges.

Sheriff Niles also faces misdemeanour nepotism charges for the employment of his son and daughter-in-law.

___

Information from: Enid News & Eagle, http://www.enidnews.com