A judge recently denied a prosecuting attorney’s attempt to remove all Wyandotte County District Court judges from a case where a jail employee is charged with murder.
Richard Fatherley, a corrections officer at the Wyandotte County Detention Center, is charged with second-degree murder, or in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter, in Wyandotte County District Court.
The charges come after the death of Charles Adair, 50, who was found unresponsive in his jail cell following an altercation with deputies. A medical examiner ruled Adair’s death a homicide in September, stating that he had died from “mechanical asphyxia,” or when an object or force prevents someone from breathing…