Timeline: Keaton Farris’ last days
Published 1:58 pm Thursday, November 5, 2015
Keaton Farris, 25, spent more than two weeks in four jails before he died of dehydration and malnutrition. His bipolar disorder was left untreated in Island County Jail.
March 20: In Lynnwood, Farris is arrested on a San Juan County warrant for failing to appear in court for an identity-theft charge. A police officer finds him outside a bank, where employees reported he had been acting strangely. He tells the officer he is off his medication.
March 20: Farris is booked into the Lynnwood City Jail. Staff report he isn’t complying with instructions and likely has mental health issues.
March 21: Farris is moved to the Snohomish County Jail in Everett, where a booking nurse examines him and reports he denied having mental health issues. Corrections officers move Farris to an observation unit. A behavioral health worker orders 30-minute safety checks and writes that if Farris is released from jail, he should be evaluated for involuntary psychiatric treatment.
March 24: The regional jail transport staff moves Farris to the Skagit County Jail in Mount Vernon. Corrections officers put him in an observation cell because he won’t talk and they don’t have much information about his condition.
March 26: San Juan County deputies transport Farris to the Island County Jail in Coupeville. He is locked in a padded cell with no window, sink or toilet. The jail nurse is on vacation. Island County doesn’t have Farris’ medical records from the other jails.
April 1: Deputies take Farris to San Juan County Superior Court in Friday Harbor to be arraigned on identity theft. He won’t talk to his lawyer or cooperate with deputies and is strapped to a restraint chair with his bare feet shackled. The judge orders a competency evaluation and discourages Farris’ mother from posting bail. Farris is returned to the Island County Jail in Coupeville later that day.
April 8: Farris is found dead in his Island County Jail cell. The cause of death later is determined to be dehydration and malnutrition. Jailers reported he had been behaving strangely and had flooded his cell, prompting them to turn off the water.
