Harnett County: $1.2 million settlement ends suit over 2021 jail death

In Harnett County, a federal lawsuit over the 2021 death of inmate Eric Morgan Griffith at the county jail has ended in a $1.2 million settlement, WRAL and The Daily Record reported. County leaders on Tuesday approved public disclosure of the agreements, WRAL wrote.

Where the $1.2 million figure came from

WRAL lists that story as posted at 1:53 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2026. The station says the dollar amount is from an agenda item for the Board of Commissioners, and that Tuesday's action was a vote to make the agreements public. It does not describe the board as approving the deal itself that day.

The Dunn paper says it learned of the same sum from a memo on the commissioners' agenda. Its editor's note, revised Tuesday morning, Nov. 10, says members were set to meet at 9 a.m. to consider a release. That scheduling line is not the same fact as the Raleigh station's report that disclosure passed.

July, then August

A lawyer involved in the case told WRAL the agreement was reached in July. Citing court records, the station wrote that the civil action and an appeal were dismissed in August.

The Daily Record describes an August ending and does not mention an appeal. It says the remaining federal claims were dismissed once a settlement was accepted that month, with no jury trial and no judicial decision on responsibility.

Who died, and when

The Dunn paper identifies him as Eric Morgan Griffith, 29. He entered the jail on June 19, 2021, after failing to follow a court order to pay a $320 fine, that account says. Staff later found him unresponsive in a cell. He was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m. on June 21, 2021. The same report says that, at intake, he told detention officers he was withdrawing from Xanax and fentanyl.

WRAL places the death in June 2021 and writes that a cellmate woke to find him unresponsive on the floor. WRAL says he had been arrested over an unpaid fine. Its November story does not give the amount, the booking day, or a clock time for the death.

What the lawsuit alleged

The lines in this section are allegations from the civil case. They are not a finding that anyone is liable. Sheriff Wayne Coats says there has been no such finding. His denial is below.

WRAL writes that the estate's filing says Griffith showed clear signs of serious drug withdrawal and other medical concerns. In that account of the filing, jailers did not notify medical staff, did not offer treatment or medication, and did not follow the detention center health plan. The station also writes that the filing says he used an intercom to reach staff, that the response was slow, and that personnel had trouble locating one of three automated external defibrillators.

From the 2025 order, WRAL reports two accusations that remained. One accused Coats and the officers of deliberate indifference to Griffith's serious medical needs. The other described a policy or custom of deliberate indifference toward inadequate training on the risks of delaying or denying care.

Relatives filed that federal civil-rights case in 2023, The Daily Record reported, naming Coats, his insurance provider, and detention officers William Grady, Curtis Thompson and Michael Pittman. The pages read here do not print a docket number or a formal caption, so this file does not invent one.

The 2025 order

WRAL reports that U.S. District Judge James Dever let claims against Coats and three detention officers go forward, removed Harnett County as a defendant, and denied qualified immunity for Coats and those jailers. The station's Aug. 7, 2025, story says he turned down two of three motions to dismiss.

The Daily Record names the judge as James C. Dever III. It describes an August 2025 order that dropped the county for insufficient evidence of the county's own liability and left the claims against the sheriff and the individual officers in the case. The paper says that order was not a ruling that anyone violated Griffith's rights. Qualified immunity is not a phrase in the Dunn account read for this file.

Cause of death

WRAL reports cardiac arrest and seizures, with an autopsy determining that methamphetamine toxicity was the likely cause.

Medical examiner Dr. Nabila Haikal concluded the death was accidental methamphetamine toxicity, The Daily Record reported. An expert hired by the estate, Dr. Kris Sperry, pointed primarily to abrupt withdrawal from Xanax, with methamphetamine as a contributing factor, that paper wrote. Defense expert George Hime supported the toxicity conclusion. The Dunn paper says a verdict never resolved the disagreement.

What Sheriff Coats said

The Daily Record says Coats issued a statement from his office on Monday night. The editor's note says the comment was added when the page was updated on the morning of Nov. 10. He said negotiations that included outside counsel and the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Property and Liability Pool brought the former suit to an end. He said nothing in the record finds that his office, or anyone at the jail, committed wrongdoing in the care or confinement. He rejected that implication, including any suggestion that medical care was unavailable, and said the agency works to meet the needs of people who live in the county, including those locked up.

On Tuesday, WRAL wrote, Coats said the settlement brought no admission of liability and no finding of wrongdoing. The wording the station printed matches the statement the Dunn paper dates to Monday night. Those two clocks stay separate here.

Related coverage

Other Harnett County stories are on the county page. Crime files are in the public safety section. Rulings and settlements are in the courts section.

Triangle Local is not the Harnett County Sheriff's Office, not the county board, and not an emergency service. If someone is in danger, call 911.

Photos

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