John Neville

John Neville, 56, died on December 4, 2019, three days after Forsyth County, North Carolina jail detention officers restrained him face-down on the floor of his cell in a "bent-leg prone restraint" for nearly an hour. Body camera video showed Neville, who had fallen from his top bunk during an apparent seizure, saying "I can't breathe" and calling out for his deceased mother more than 25 times while restrained; officers responded at least twice with "if you can talk, you can breathe." A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from positional and compressional asphyxia. Five detention officers and a jail nurse were charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2020; a grand jury declined to indict any of the five officers in April 2022, indicting only the nurse, Michelle Heughins — whose attorney argued she was the only person present who tried to save Neville's life. In 2023, at the Neville family's own request, prosecutors dropped the remaining charge against Heughins as well. No one has ever been convicted in Neville's death.

Winston-Salem, NC · Forsyth County

• 2019: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The restraint, the nearly hour-long prone position, and Neville's death three days later, per body camera video released by court order and the county medical examiner's autopsy finding of homicide by positional and compressional asphyxia.
• Neville said "I can't breathe" and called out for his mother repeatedly — accounts range from at least 10 to more than 25 times across different reporting — while restrained; officers are recorded responding that if he could talk, he could breathe.
• Five detention officers and jail nurse Michelle Heughins were charged with involuntary manslaughter in July 2020, following a seven-month investigation.
• A Forsyth County grand jury declined in April 2022 to indict any of the five officers, indicting only Heughins on the involuntary manslaughter charge.
• In September 2023, prosecutors dropped the remaining charge against Heughins specifically at the request of Neville's family, who by then had expressed disappointment that the sole person charged was the nurse rather than any of the restraining officers.
• The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office banned the "bent-leg prone restraint" technique used on Neville in August 2020, and the county settled a related civil claim with Neville's family for $3 million.
• The sheriff's office did not publicly acknowledge Neville's death for roughly six to seven months, only providing information after inquiries from the Winston-Salem Journal.

• Why the grand jury indicted only the nurse — whose attorney and Neville's own son both publicly said the evidence showed responsibility was shared far more broadly — while clearing all five officers who physically restrained him, has never been explained in any public grand jury record, which remains sealed by law.
• The full extent of what jail policy, cited by Heughins's defense as limiting her ability to intervene, actually constrained her actions in the room has been disputed between her attorney's account and the family's.
• Why the sheriff's office waited six to seven months to publicly acknowledge Neville's death has not been fully resolved beyond the sheriff's stated reliance on the family's initial wishes.

• NBC News — “North Carolina inmate who died following restraint repeatedly said 'I can't breathe'”
• WFDD (88.5) — “Grand Jury declines to indict five former jail officers charged in John Neville's death”
• WFMY News 2 — “Charges dropped against nurse in John Neville's death, at family's request, Forsyth County DA office says”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs