Greene County Sheriff’s Office releases details on man’s death at jail

GREENE COUNTY, Mo. — Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott has released details from an incident in Greene County Jail that led to the death of a man on March 10, 2024.

In a press conference Wednesday, April 17, Arnott said the Greene County Medical Examiner determined that the death of 53-year-old Darrell Thorne was accidental.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, SPD arrested Thorne for trespassing and sent him to Greene County Jail. When Thorne arrived at the jail, he was seemingly under the influence of a controlled substance and was being combative with jail officials.

Thorne was then placed in a restraint chair but a Jail nurse later found Thorne to be unresponsive. The nurse responded by performing CPR and giving him Narcan, a medicine that treats a narcotic overdose, but Thorne eventually died.

After the incident, Sheriff detectives from Greene, Christian, Webster and Lawrence counties and the Greene County Sheriff’s Critical Critical Incident Team began their investigation. Eight deputies have also been placed on paid leave as an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office unfolds.

On March 15, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) requested an autopsy on Thorne from the Greene County Medical Examiner. The autopsy revealed the cause of Thorne’s death to be from mechanical asphyxia during forcible restraint, meth intoxication, arteriosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease.

Sheriff Jim Arnott submitted the investigation to the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the GCSO has also launched an administrative review. The case is still under review by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

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