ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. (KTVI) – A father of four arrested on a misdemeanor charge in Missouri died a week later inside a St. Charles County jail, despite telling the facility’s staff he felt like he was “dying” days before.

Christopher Griffith was arrested in May 2024 and charged with misdemeanor stealing. His death only seven days later is now the subject of a federal civil lawsuit.

Nexstar’s KTVI acquired video of his final days in jail, which show staff questioning Griffith’s symptoms.

“That’s not dry heaving,” a nurse can be heard remarking in response to a guttural noise Griffith is heard making. “That’s not.”

Griffith had admitted being an opioid addict.

“I know it sucks, but this is detox,” the nurse tells him. “This is what happens when you use drugs.”

Griffith’s daughter, Mya, told KTVI she thinks her father’s death could have been avoided.

“I think the real reason it happened was just bias and prejudice against people who have addictions,” Mya said.

In videos of Griffith’s time in jail, the nurse could also be heard telling Griffith that his problems stem from prior drug use.

“This is detox. Your vitals all look great; they’re fine,” the nurse says.

Officers called Griffith a wimp about it. One also used another word to refer to Griffith and his withdrawal symptoms.

“[He] is doing drugs and being a (expletive deleted) about it,” an officer says.

At the time, Griffin was being kept in a suicide prevention cell. He told staff he hadn’t eaten in days.

“I feel like I’m dying,” he said.

On his fifth day in jail, Griffith tells jail staffers, “I don’t know if I can go in the shower. I don’t think I can hold myself up.”

Griffith’s sister, K.C. Pilger, is a nurse who says her brother’s resting heart rate — reported at 120 and 130 beats per minute — should have led to action.

“I take vitals all day every day. The vitals that they’re pulling and saying that he’s in mild distress or, you know, those are not mild symptoms,” she said. “And if these are nurses who’ve been nursing for a long time, they know that.”

On day six, Griffith fell while in jail, the video shows. He died the following day, and an autopsy found the cause to be diabetes, as well as an issue with his esophagus that caused it to stop working.

“Nobody deserves to be treated that way. Nobody,” Lorraine Fry, Griffith’s mother, said. “What they did to him is unbelievable.”

Christopher Griffith is seen on his sixth day of incarceration for a misdemeanor theft charge. He died the following day. (Khazaeli Wyrsch Law)

Attorney Jack Waldron with the firm Khazaeli Wyrsch filed the civil suit on the family’s behalf.

“They should have been able to identify very quickly,” Waldron said. “This is somebody who needs elevated care. This is somebody who needs to go to the hospital.”

“Any one of us could have seen this as somebody who was deeply sick. It didn’t take a nurse. It didn’t take a doctor,” Waldron added.

The suit targets both St. Charles County and the jail’s medical contractor, VitalCore.

The contractor did not respond to a call or email seeking comment, but St. Charles County sent KTVI a statement, seen below.

St. Charles County is currently reviewing the specific allegations contained in a recently filed lawsuit regarding the death of Christopher Griffith. Because the matter is now pending litigation, it would not be appropriate to comment on isolated video excerpts.

The safety, health, and well-being of individuals housed at the Department of Corrections, as well as the safety of staff, remain the highest priority. Mr. Griffith had been held at Corrections for less than one week before his death and was undergoing detoxification from fentanyl and other drugs.

During his detention, Mr. Griffith received medical care and was monitored by correctional and medical staff. The County remains confident that the care provided was appropriate and consistent with the County’s legal obligations.

Although investigators found no evidence that Mr. Griffith obtained or used drugs while incarcerated, the autopsy determined that the cause of death was diabetes mellitus exacerbated by fentanyl intoxication. Mr. Griffith did not disclose that he was diabetic during the intake process or at any point during his detention, but records reflect that he admitted to using fentanyl on the day of his arrest.