Update May 21, 8:32 a.m.:
The petition to approve a $900,000 settlement was withdrawn on May 20, around 3:01 p.m. According to court documents, Turn Key Health and Tyner’s estate intend to enter into a written settlement agreement, which has not yet been executed. Once the written statement is executed, it will be submitted to the Circuit Court of Craighead County for approval.
Previously:
Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — May 19, 2025 — A settlement has been reached with some parties named in the wrongful death lawsuit of a Jonesboro man who died in police custody in 2024.
According to a petition filed May 18, a $900,000 settlement has been reached between the estate of Brock Tyner, who died in police custody last year, and Turn Key Health, the company that provides contracted nursing staff to the inmates and employees of the Craighead County Detention Center.
Of the settlement’s total amount, $250,000 is to be paid within 30 days of the agreement’s execution, although court approval is still pending. The remaining $650,000 will be paid in three equal installments on Aug. 1, Oct. 1, and Dec. 1 of 2025.
According to the petition, if all payments are not made, the release will be deemed null and void, but any amounts paid prior to default will be retained by Tyner’s estate and beneficiaries.
The nurse on call the night that Tyner died, Delaney Hall, was terminated May 30, 2024, by the company. According to NEA Report, Hall failed to provide adequate medical care to Tyner when he was suffering from a drug overdose.
The petition excludes the City of Jonesboro and its employees, including fired JPD officer Joseph Harris.
Harris is facing felony charges for the beating of an inmate in custody and is awaiting a decertification hearing. His hearing was originally scheduled for May 2025, but it was postponed for “reasons having nothing to do with him,” Arkansas State Police communications director Cindy Murphy told JRN.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit, which was filed June 3, 2024, Tyner was handcuffed and taken to the Craighead County Detention Center, where he later collapsed and was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
The lawsuit cites Harris’ report, which said that while transporting Tyner to the detention center, he was banging his head against the back seat, the window, and the cage. At the jail, the lawsuit said, it took three jailers to book Tyner due to his “erratic behavior.” The suit also alleges Harris knew Tyner was a danger to himself and others and did not provide an adequate response.
“Had Defendants transported Tyner to the emergency room, he would not have died,” the lawsuit said. “The individual Defendants should be held liable for punitive damages under state law, since the Defendants acted with deliberate indifference to Plaintiff’s State Constitutional rights.”
The lawsuit also said that the city failed to properly train its officers when dealing with a person like Tyner.
Tyner, a 21-year-old Jonesboro man, was arrested at about 11:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, on suspicion of public intoxication on Gee Street. He was being held in the Craighead County Detention Center and later taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.