Father dies in Missouri jail after arrest for failure to pay child support

A Missouri father died in jail after he was arrested for failing to pay child support instalments that he couldn’t afford.

Ryan Everson, 42, was found unresponsive inside his cell at the Clay County Jail on 23 January after spending 10 days in custody, according to a report by The Kansas City Star. Everson was arrested for allegedly owing $30,272 in back child support for his kids, ages 17, 19 and 20.

His family was told that he died as a result of suicide, but they claim jail officials did not provide medical treatment after Everson experienced seizures and was left alone in his cell. Everson’s death, the third in the last 21 months at the facility, is now under investigation.

Everson’s loved ones say that the criminal system put the father-of-three in an impossible situation as his bond was set at $10,000, but he couldn’t even afford the $50 child support instalments that a judge had ordered him to pay.

Everson, who once worked as a carpenter, had struggled with addiction in the last years of his life, relatives told the Star. At the time of his arrest, he didn’t have a job or a car and was sleeping on friends’ couches and at an abandoned house.

But despite his financial shortcomings, his children and ex-wife Shawna Almendarez told the Star that he tried to be as present in their lives as best he could. Ms Almendarez said she was against his arrest and that she had come to terms with the reality that he couldn’t pay child support because of his struggles with addiction.

“The justice system is set up for the privileged,” Everson’s sister Erin Swart told the outlet. The family believes the county’s decisions failed Everson — and his children — at every step, from issuing a warrant on the underlying child support case to setting a $10,000 bond and keeping him in jail without the treatment he needed.

According to court documents reviewed by the Star, prosecutors estimated that Everson owed $30,272 in Alaska and had missed $600 in payments in Missouri. He had moved to Missouri to be closer to his children after his ex-wife moved to the state in 2015.

“He loved his kids and he wanted to try to be near them,” Ms Almendarez told the Star. “If anything, he didn’t love himself ... but he loved his kids.”

Everson was taken into custody after he failed to show up in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Prosecutors in Clay County said in several statements to the Star that they issued both a summons and a warrant that Everson did not comply with.

His bond was lowered to $5,000 three days before his death, but Everson’s family said he still couldn’t afford that sum. Everson also reportedly did not have a lawyer during his bond hearing.

“Our goal is the collection of child support for the children of Clay County, so incarceration is always the last resort as resolution of a child support case,” Clay County assistant prosecuting attorney Alexander Higginbotham said in a statement. “A wide range of actions, including administrative enforcement, civil contempt filings, and lastly criminal probation, are attempted before noncustodial parents are sentenced to jail or prison on a child support case in Clay County.”

Jail officials also told the outlet that Everson was not under supervision because he did not appear distressed or at risk of suicide following a medical evaluation when he was booked.

His family has since started a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses and any legal services they inquire about while looking for answers. According to the Star, Everson’s brother Noel plans to spread his ashes in Hawaii, where he is having a wedding ceremony that Everson promised to attend.

The Independent has reached out to the Clay County Jail and the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.