Alabama man dies in jail after being arrested for not paying a fine

Lawsuit alleges that John Wayne Snider died after jail officials refused to take him to the hospital

A man in Alabama died last month after being arrested and placed in a city jail for not paying a fine.

According to a lawsuit filed in August in federal court, John Wayne Snider, 30, was arrested in Piedmont, Alabama, after failing to pay and incarcerated in the Piedmont City Jail. Shortly after his time behind bars began, Mr Snider began allegedly experiencing severe pain medication withdrawl symptoms including chest pain, tachycardia, chills and repeated vomiting.

Despite his medical distress and an EMS recommendation, the lawsuit alleges, the city’s former police chief and a captain refused to take Mr Snider to a hospital for treatment. Without any sort of major medical intervention, Mr Snider continued to deteriorate. He died on 16 August from a cardiac event after suffering from severe electrolyte imbalance.

For Mr Snider’s famliy and other observers, the case represents another vivid example of the inhumanity of the US criminal justice system — a system that may have taken Mr Snider’s life over an unpaid fine and a refusal to treat his medical symptoms.

According to Britney Dixon, a critical care nurse and the mother of Mr Snider’s 13-year-old son, Mr Snider’s life took a turn when he lost control of his car on an icy road and crashed into a tree — breaking his legs and ankles and becoming temporarily disabled in the process.

Shortly thereafter, Mr Snider became addicted to the perscription painkillers he was taking to manage the pain from his injuries. His relationship with Ms Dixon ended, and, according to the local television station WDHN, began accruing citations for minor offenses like speeding, marijuana possession, and public intoxication.

Mr Snider reportedly had missed a number of court dates before he was arrested for not paying a fine and booked into jail.

The lawsuit over his death alleges that Mr Snider was not eating during his period of incarceration as he struggled with the physiological effects of withdrawl.

John Wayne Snider (Brittney Dixon)

“By August 15, 2020, Snider was so weak and sick it would have been obvious to anyone that he needed medical treatment in a hospital,” the lawsuit reads. “He just lay in the cell, not eating and barely drinking.”

Despite the severity of Mr Snider’s condition and the concern of fellow inmates and a team of paramedics, the suit alleges that then-police chief Freddy Norton and current chief Nathan Johnson refused to send Mr Snider to the hospital for treatment.

In their response to the lawsuit, the city of Piedmont and the two chiefs wrote that the officers did not know about the peril Mr Snider was in and that “any injuries and damages suffered by [Snider] were caused by his own actions”.

For Ms Dixon, the lack of compassion for Mr Snider was upsetting — especially considering that he was incarcerated for simply failing to pay a fine.

“The town we live in, you know, there are a lot of poor people,” Ms Dixon told the television station. “And I understand that there’s consequences for everything. But I think that when it’s not something so serious, there should be a little bit more understanding, a little bit more of a compromise.”