DENVER – Two Colorado sheriff’s deputies have been charged with manslaughter in the death of a 23-year-old man that investigators found had been handcuffed and placed face down on the floor of a police van.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty’s office filed the charges Monday against county sheriff’s deputies Adam Lunn and James O’Brien.
It was not immediately clear if the men have attorneys.
According to court records, the deputies were taking Demetrius Shankling to a detox facility on Sept. 9. The records say the deputies handcuffed Shankling and put him face down on the van’s floor.
After a 16-minute drive, police found Shankling was unconscious and not breathing. He died at a hospital in October.
An autopsy found Shankling died of positional asphyxia and classified his death as a homicide.
