Deschutes jail inmate’s cellmate: ‘They let him die’

A grieving brother said Thursday he doesn’t have to watch newly released jail tapes to know what happened the night 31-year-old Edwin Mays died in the Deschutes County Jail.

“He asked for help, and they never helped him,” 32-year-old Adam Davenport told NewsChannel 21. He was arrested with, and was in jail with Mays when his half-brother died Dec. 14 of a meth overdose .

“We both got booked in,” Davenport said. “We were put in the same holding tank.”

Security footage released by Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel shows Davenport was in the cell with Mays and at least one other inmate. Throughout the video Mays, can be seen acting strangely, waving his arms, jumping around, pounding on the glass.

“It was probably the most erratic I’ve ever seen anyone act, like he could not sit still,” Davenport said.

Davenport said he asked jail staff for help.

“I said, ‘This is not a charade.’ I said, ‘I’m telling you he needs to go to the hospital.”‘

The video shows a deputy asking Davenport about Mays’ condition.

“You guys came in together, right?” the deputy asks Davenport. “How much did he use?”

The video shows Davenport responding: “I don’t know. He did something before I picked him up.”

Davenport told NewsChannel 21 that shortly after his conversations with jail staff, he was housed in a different area of the jail.

He didn’t know it would be the last time he ever saw his brother. By the time paramedics showed up shortly before 9 p.m., it was too late.

They let him die,” Davenport said of jail employees. “I got a lot of hate in my heart right now. Whatever he did — all it takes them is a phone call. That’s their job.”

Davenport said Mays, who authorities say died of a methamphetamine overdose, had a lot of problems, but a good heart.

“I don’t care how much of a criminal history he had,” he said. “He’s a real person. I guarantee you, if he’s sees someone dying, he would help them.”

He only wishes he could have been there to do the same.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.”

At the time of their arrest In December, Davenport was charged with felony and misdemeanor charges of attempt to elude, by vehicle and on foot, as well as three counts of second-degree criminal trespass, two counts of third-degree criminal trespass, reckless driving and four counts of reckless endangering.

Mays had been charged with interfering with a police officer, menacing, giving false information to a police officer and heroin possession.

We also asked Hummel why he released the jail video, requested by NewsChannel 21 and The Bulletin, on the same day he announced that he’s asked the state Department of Justice to investigate the matter.

“I had a public records request, and I take those seriously,” he said. “And I reviewed the public records request and the law, and I think the public records law required me to release it.”

Hummel said he does not believe releasing the video or the investigation’s documents will hamper a DOJ investigation, adding that he would not have released them if he thought it would do so.