Leon Davis, 27, checked himself into St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, Washington, because he was in alcohol withdrawal. Two days later he was dead, after Federal Way police officers and hospital security held him face down on a hallway floor for at least 25 minutes.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide, caused by “cardiac arrest, prolonged restraint in prone position in setting of alcohol withdrawal syndrome.” Mr. Davis was Black. His family says the people who were supposed to treat him instead treated him as a threat, and their lawsuit alleges racial and disability bias in his care.
He entered the hospital on March 12. On March 14, according to reports from KOMO and others, he became disoriented and agitated, tried to leave, and security tackled him. Police were called after a report that he was assaulting staff. When officers arrived they found him already on the ground. They handcuffed him with three sets of cuffs behind his back and kept him prone. Body-camera video shows he was not turned over for about 26 minutes. He cried for help and told the officers he could not breathe. He went into cardiac arrest, and the medical examiner also found blunt-force injuries to his neck, head, face and wrist.
The video stayed out of public view for more than seven months. It came out after the family filed a $50 million tort claim and then a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Federal Way, its police department and the hospital’s operators, alleging excessive force, medical negligence and a failure to follow training on recognizing medical distress.
“We are looking for accountability. We think the police should be investigated,” the family’s attorney, Sim Osborn, said. His sister, Shannice Johnson, put it more plainly: “No one should have to watch someone they love slowly die while doctors and nurses stand by.”
The police account is short. Officers said they “restrained the individual and placed them in handcuffs” and that “medical treatment was immediately provided.” Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, which runs the hospital, declined to comment, citing patient privacy.
Here is where it stands. The Valley Independent Investigation Team, a multi-agency unit that investigates deadly force by police in south King County, is reviewing the case. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has asked Federal Way police for their training documents and is deciding whether to file charges. All of the officers remain employed and on duty.
A homicide ruling by a medical examiner is a finding about the cause of death, not a charge. But it is the official record that a man who walked into a hospital asking for treatment died because of how he was held. Holding someone prone while he says he cannot breathe is what training is supposed to prevent, and the lawsuit says it was ignored here.
Mr. Davis did not commit a crime by being sick in a hospital. The prosecutor has the officers’ training records and the video. The family has waited since March, and what they are owed is a charging decision, made in public, with a date.
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