Suit: KY man was shocked about 40 times before dying of cardiac arrest
The wife of a Richmond man who died last year at the Madison County jail is suing the facility, claiming jail officials used stun guns on her husband more than 40 times, causing cardiac arrest that led to his death.
Rebecca Mansfield’s husband, 43-year-old Johnathan Mansfield, died Oct. 10, 2024, about two weeks after the incident at the jail.
In the two hours he was at the facility, he was placed in a full-body restraint, a hood to stop him from spitting on officials and stunned about 40 times with two devices before entering cardiac arrest, according to the suit.
He was arrested for public intoxication.
According to the suit, filed Monday in Madison County Circuit Court, doctors at the University of Kentucky determined Johnathan Mansfield’s cardiac arrest was caused by officers’ repeated use of a stun gun. But the Fayette County Coroner’s Office ruled his death was caused by an accidental overdose.
Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said his office spoke with police and reviewed all medical records before they presented their findings of an overdose as cause of death.
Ginn told the Herald-Leader Wednesday that Mansfield tested positive for several drugs including methamphetamine.
However, a state medical examiner performed an autopsy and found no evidence that a cardiac arrest took place.
The lawsuit accuses former county jailer Steve Tussey, the county EMS director, the jail health care provider and several county employees of gross negligence, wrongful death, battery and negligent training.
It marks at least the fourth wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Madison County Detention Center since the beginning of 2023.
In all, officers shot Mansfield twice with stun gun nodes, and they used 13 drive stuns — when the stun gun is applied directly to a person’s skin — each for one to three seconds, according to an independent investigation by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
The same report found officer used a shock glove 23 times on Mansfield. The glove emits shocks that are lower voltage than stun guns like Tasers.
According to the jail’s use-of-force policy, the glove should not be applied for more than 15 seconds, as extended exposure can cause impaired breathing, sudden cardiac arrest, increased blood pressure and altered blood chemistry.
On two occasions, officers applied the glove to Mansfield for 40 and 99 seconds, according to the lawsuit.
Rebecca Mansfield’s lawyer, Noel Caldwell, described Johnathan Mansfield as a devoted husband, loving father, talented musician and hard worker as a commercial electrician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
“Johnathon was arrested on a public intoxication charge and, sadly, ended up dead,” Caldwell said in an interview with the Herald-Leader. “There is no justification for tasing any individual in some form or fashion approximately 40 times in the span of approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes and then placing him in (a) full-body restraint.
“Mrs. Mansfield is bringing this action on behalf of her deceased husband to illuminate the truth behind his tragic and unnecessary death and to obtain some measure of justice.”
Officers’ use of electric shock glove
Mansfield arrived at the jail in Richmond on Sept. 27, 2024, with his hands cuffed behind his back. Two correctional officers, Capt. James Hollins and Mikael Burns, had Mansfield at each side with their arms locked in his, according to the lawsuit.
Mansfield fell to the floor with Burns and Hollins holding him. He was placed in a restraint chair and moved toward the booking area in the jail’s lobby.
Hollins pulled out a Taser, showing it to Mansfield and threatening to use it unless he complied. Hollins then shocked Mansfield in the lower stomach or groin, according to the lawsuit.
A spit hood — a mesh hood to prevent biting or spitting — was placed over Mansfield’s head, though the lawsuit claims he did not spit or threaten to spit on any staff members.
According to the autopsy report from the Fayette County Coroner’s Office, Mansfield tried to bite officers.
Mansfield was strapped in a restraint chair for 55 minutes before he was placed in an isolation cell, where Hollins and Burns repeatedly used the Taser and shock glove.
Mansfield lay in the isolation cell and appeared to go to sleep when several jail guards and sheriff’s deputies rushed into his cell and “pounced on him with a shield,” according to the lawsuit.
While Mansfield was subdued, guards put him in a WRAP restraint system — similar to a full-body straight jacket.
The Montgomery County Detention Center faces a wrongful death lawsuit over its use of the same WRAP restraint. The lawsuit was paused in July while the FBI investigates the jail deputies.
The deputies placed the spit hood back over Mansfield’s head and face and moved him to the booking area, where bloodstains began to form around his mouth.
Emergency services and medical staff did not evaluate Mansfield, even as the blood stain continued to grow around the spit mask, according to the lawsuit.
Video footage shows Mansfield motionless and unresponsive for almost nine minutes before EMS checked him for a pulse, according to the lawsuit. Emergency responders determined Mansfield was in cardiac arrest and tried to administer life-saving measures.
Mansfield was transferred to Baptist Health in Richmond and then University of Kentucky Hospital, where he died two weeks later.
Almost immediately after the incident, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office launched an internal investigation of the deputies at the jail, according to the lawsuit.
Sgt. Donovan Nolan, of the sheriff’s department, spoke with Mansfield’s doctors, who said she and the other UK doctors believed Mansfield’s cardiac arrest was caused by multiple shocks at the jail.
Maj. Dwight Hall, one of the officers who conducted the internal investigation, also determined Mansfield’s cardiac arrest was caused by Hollins and Burns’ excessive force, according to the lawsuit.
“The use of taser drive stun and (shock glove) on Mr. Mansfield did not achieve the desired effect of pain compliance, making the subsequent exposures unreasonable,” Hall wrote in his investigation. “These actions not only inflicted unnecessary pain, but also heightened the risk of serious health complications.”
Hollins, who had at least three previous write-ups for excessive force, was fired after the investigation.
Burns was suspended for five days. Madison County Jailer Larry Brock said Tuesday he had not been employed at the jail for at least the past 10 months, but it was not clear if he had been fired.
Coroner’s report said death was an overdose
Despite the findings of the internal investigation, the Fayette County Coroner’s Office ruled Mansfield’s death as an accidental overdose, according to the autopsy report.
The autopsy report said the death was caused by “delayed complications of methamphetamine intoxication.”
According to the report, deputy coroner Greg Haley conducted interviews with Mansfield’s family and reviewed his medical records. It was unclear if Haley spoke with Mansfield’s doctors.
According to Haley’s report, Mansfield overdosed on methamphetamine and left a hospital against medical advice before he was arrested for public intoxication.
New jailer says changes were needed
Mansfield was one of at least 34 people to die in a Kentucky jail last year. He was one of at least 12 deaths in the past five years at the Madison County jail between 2020 and 2024.
Brock took over the position of Madison County jailer in January 2025 after Tussey announced he was retiring with two years still left on his elected term.
Brock said in an interview Tuesday with the Herald-Leader that when he took over the jail, a lot of changes needed to be made.
“I had heard some of the stories of what went on, and I couldn’t believe it,” Brock said. “Things are getting better. We are diligent about medical care, and if there is a service someone needs that we can’t provide, we take them to the hospital. We send them to get medical care. We are not getting stuck in what we did in the past.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
