Snohomish County inquiry finds no fault in Edmonds man’s jail death

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 11, 2023

EVERETT — A Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office inquiry found no fault in the death of an Edmonds man in December in the downtown Everett jail.

Under a recent state law, the authority with primary responsibility must conduct a review of unexpected jail deaths and include an analysis of the root cause and recommendations to prevent them from happening in the future.

The findings must be submitted to the state Department of Health within 120 days. Published April 3, the sheriff’s office’s report came 114 days after Sean Hanchett’s death.

This review is the first for Snohomish County under the new law.

Hanchett, 32, was booked into the jail around noon Dec. 10 for investigation of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, according to court records. He also had an open leg wound, according to the inquiry.

The next day at 3:47 p.m., jail officers were conducting routine checks with medical staff when they found Hanchett unresponsive in his cell in the jail’s detox housing, the inquiry said. Custody officers and Everett firefighters tried life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful.

The sheriff’s office reported there was no fault in the medical response, and inmate welfare checks were “timely and in accordance with policy.”

The frequency of the checkups depend on what is prescribed by nurses in accordance with an inmate’s medical or detox condition, sheriff’s spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe said Tuesday. The intervals are “never less frequent” than 30 minutes when confined in a cell, and sometimes a welfare check can occur every 10 to 15 minutes, O’Keefe said.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the manner of death as “natural.” The medical examiner cited the cause as “complications of chronic fentanyl and methamphetamine use,” according to the review.

While fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in Hanchett’s system, they were not consistent with overdose. The drugs likely remained in his system from use before he was booked into the jail, according to the sheriff’s office’s report.

There are several security cameras in the facility, but no camera located within the cells of the detox unit, according to the report.

The review recommended “Bio-Sensor Monitoring” technology for inmates in medical and detox units. The device could act as a real-time warning system for when an inmate’s pulse, movement or temperature gets outside of a set range, O’Keefe said.

The price and availability of the technology is unknown, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office also recommended training and equipping all detention staff with the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, or Narcan. It could ensure an adequate amount of Narcan is available on scene, considering only medical staff had it on them at the time of Hanchett’s death, according to the review.

Hanchett attended Edmonds-Woodway High School where he excelled as a pitcher on the baseball team, according to an obituary.

“Sean was known for his big heart, love of animals, and was always lending a helping hand,” the obituary said. “His absence will be truly missed.”

Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @EDHJonTall.