Jury Finds Big Leggins Passed From Natural Causes While In Custody

The Valley County Courthouse was the setting of a coroner’s inquest on Feb. 14, pertaining to the in-custody death of Darryl Big Leggins, of Hays, Mont., that occurred on Feb. 10, 2022. At the time of his death Big Leggins was being held at the Valley County Detention Center under contract for the Montana Department of Corrections. At the time of death, to ensure transparency and to eliminate any perceived conflict, Valley County Sheriff Tom Boyer requested the Phillips County Sheriff/Coroner Jerry Lytle and the Montana Department of Justice to investigate. In a statement at the time of Big Leggins death, Sheriff Boyer indicated the death appears to have been from natural causes however his body was taken to Billings for an autopsy at the State Crime Lab.

Throughout the course of the year, investigations were conducted by agencies outside of Valley County. According to law, the inquest is a formal inquiry into the causes and circumstances surrounding the death of a person and is conducted by the coroner before a jury. In the Feb. 14 hearing, the jury consisted of six individuals, Dawson County Coroner Tyler Silha, who oversaw the proceedings, which included four testimonies, and Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen, who asked the witnesses questions regarding the situation leading up to and including Big Leggins’ death. Unlike criminal proceedings, the inquest was less formal, as there was no adversarial party, and jurors had the opportunity to examine the witnesses after the coroner and county attorney.

The first testimony given was from Kimberly Martens, who is the Valley County Detention Officer supervisor, the role she also had during Big Leggins’ death. She stated that during his time at the Valley County Detention Center, which was from November 2021 to his death, Big Leggins had multiple doctor appointments and complaints regarding back pain. Her testimony also indicated Big Leggins was admitted to the emergency room on Feb. 7, 2022, due to sagging lips, a fever, and being hard to understand. At the time of the visit, a stroke test and COVID test was taken, however both came back clear. At the time of the ER visit, it was advised to bring him back if the symptoms worsened. Martens testified Big Leggins exhibited the same symptoms on Feb. 9, however did not present a fever. Since there was no change in symptoms medical care was not sought at that time. “We collected video from both the seventh when he went to the ER and the ninth, and it was the same. There were people assisting him to walk to his cell and things by that nature. That was the same on the seventh as it was on the ninth,” stated Martens. She also noted detention officers did perform checks roughly every 30 minutes to an hour the evening of Big Leggins’ death and did not notice anything different medically than what he had previously exhibited.

Next on the stand was Valley County Sheriff Tom Boyer who explained the process of securing the scene, how he was notified of Big Leggins’ death as well as the actions taken to ensure a complete and fair investigation. Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation agent Noah Scott then took the stand explaining how he got involved in the case as well as his part in the investigation. “I reviewed all video from that particular evening. There was nothing suspicious as far as an assault or him being picked on or anything like that. By all accounts everybody in the pods seems to like Mr. Big Leggins. They treated him like an elder. They seemed to respect him. By nobody’s account there was no suicidal statements, no indications of self-harm,” Scott testified. He also testified the cause of death was sepsis with endocarditis, which is the inflammation of the heart, the heart vessels, and the manner of death is natural. When asked by Jensen if the cause of death was consistent with Scott’s finding, Scott stated “Yes, there is no criminal aspects that resulted in the death of Mr Big Leggins....What I can say is by going through everything and working these other types of cases, that I didn’t find the actions of the Valley County Detention Staff to be neglectful or harmful to Mr Big Leggins.”

The last testimony of the hearing came from Doctor Walter Kemp, who is the medical examiner for the state of Montana. He testified about performing the autopsy and what he observed during the medical examine.

“The most important thing was what I found were, what I consider, features of sepsis...what I found in the organs, including the kidney, the heart and the adrenal glands, where the blood vessels were filled with bacterial oxide,” Dr. Kemp testified. He also stated the body had reacted to the bacteria, as inflammatory cells were present. He also viewed the inner surface of the heart where he saw inflammation. In his medical opinion, the cause of death was endocarditis which was the source of the sepsis.

After the last testimony, the six member jury deliberated, reviewed all of the evidence and exhibits. After discussing for 15 minutes, the jury reached the verdict that Big Leggins cause of death was endocarditis that caused sepsis and the death was of natural causes with no criminal means.