Deschutes County jailers are accused of mocking and laughing at a Bend man as he thrashed and writhed in the holding cell where - after just 204 minutes in custody - he died from a massive drug overdose.

The father of Edwin B. Mays III filed a $10.7 million civil rights lawsuit this week in

that accuses the county, its sheriff and nine corrections staffers of wrongful death.

Edwin B. Mays III

Edwin B. Mays Jr.'s complaint alleges that jailers - some watching the NFL's

game, paid little heed to clear signs that his son was dying from a fatal dose of methamphetamine.

Jailers also didn't follow the pleas of other inmates, including the brother of the younger Mays, who told them that the dying man needed to go to a hospital, said Bend lawyer Jennifer L. Coughlin, who represents Mays' estate.

"I think the lesson learned is that police officers don't get to decide who lives and who dies in their custody," Coughlin said. "Every person who is incarcerated in this country has a constitutional right to get medical attention when they need it."

The Deschutes County district attorney in March

, and the DOJ acknowledged Thursday it is conducting a review. County Counsel David Doyle declined comment, citing the investigation.

The lawsuit presents a minute-by-minute account of the night of Dec. 14, 2014, after the arrest of Edwin Mays III, a parolee, on suspicion of heroin possession, providing false information to a police officer and other allegations.

Bend police Officer Whitney Wiles

about 4:30 p.m. that day, noting that her 31-year-old suspect was agitated. His fingers twitched, his feet and body wiggled, and he could not stand still.

Wiles,

for helping to prevent a man's suicide, assessed that Mays was under the influence of a central nervous system stimulant such as Ritalin, Adderall or Dexedrine, according to the lawsuit.

Mays' behavior was so erratic after his arrival at the

that no one took his photo.

At 5:37 p.m., jailers took Mays out of the booking area and put him into a holding cell with two other inmates. The lawsuit alleges that Deputy Joseph Toman remarked, "Look at Mays. He cannot sit still. I wonder if I should put him somewhere else."

Jailers' comments were picked up in some of the roughly four hours of surveillance videos obtained by Coughlin's law firm under a public records request.

A short time later, Mays' brother, Adam Davenport, was placed in the holding cell with him. He would later tell jailers that he believed his brother should be taken to the hospital.

At 6:11 p.m., Deputy Jesse Hurley decided to abort the booking process, remarking that Mays - who was now waving his arms - was under the influence of something, the suit claims.

"That guy is jacked up," Hurley said a short time later, noting that Mays was "doing the zombie." Hurley then mocked his prisoner's erratic head, arm and hand motions, drawing laughter from Deputy Amanda Parks, the lawsuit alleges.

"At 6:26 p.m.," according to the suit, "Hurley informed (Deputy David) Chambers that Eddie Mays needed Narcan, which is a medication administered to drug overdose patients to save their lives. Eddie Mays continued to jump and thrash around the holding cell, slamming against the window of the cell door with his whole body." Another deputy later remarked that Mays was "wound up tighter than a $6 watch."

Medics with

came to the jail at 6:53 to evaluate a female inmate with breathing troubles. But the deputies didn't ask them to examine Mays or give him Narcan, the lawsuit alleges. A short time later, Chambers pointed out that Mays had told him he needed to go to the hospital.

"He probably does," Hurley said.

At 7:21 p.m., according to the lawsuit, Hurley called another deputy to the window of the holding cell.

"You gotta come over here and watch," he is quoted as saying, and then laughed at Mays. "Pull up a seat, bro."

The lawsuit alleges that up to five deputies had been watching an NFL game on a TV in the booking area. It was the league's l

. Jail policy forbids employees from watching TV on duty, according to Mays' complaint.

At 7:38 p.m., deputies worried that Mays would hit his head the way he waving his arms and slamming his body against the walls. One of them suggested that he might have gotten some bad drugs. But deputies determined there was no nurse on duty that night.

Hurley was taking another inmate to a cell next to Mays' when he noticed that Mays had injured himself.

"Hey," the deputy said, "did you see what he did to his head? It's split wide open."

At 8:23 p.m., Hurley and Sgt. Tedd Morris opened Mays' door and saw that their prisoner's breathing had slowed.

"What did you use today?" Hurley yelled. "Let me know what you used."

Video images picked up Mays face up on the floor, arms out, unresponsive, the lawsuit alleges. But after calling to him again, the deputy and his sergeant left him there, bleeding and convulsing, the suit claims.

"Various deputies continued to walk by the cell periodically but took no action to assist Eddie Mays," according to the complaint. "At 8:55 p.m., Morris and Chambers open the door and discover that Eddie Mays is not breathing. They then determine the need for medical emergency assistance."

They summoned Bend Fire & EMS, searched the book area for smelling salts and a defibrillator, and began chest compressions at 8:58 p.m.

Medics arrived at 9:02 p.m. and asked, "How long has he been out?"

The response was not audible, according to the lawsuit.

His time of death is unknown. But an autopsy later listed his cause of death as "methamphetamine toxicity" with Mays inhaling the contents of his stomach into his lower airways.

"Not only did they neglect him," Coughlin alleged, "they mocked him and they laughed at him for hours. He ended up dying on a dirty jail room floor."

-- Bryan Denson

bdenson@oregonian.com

503-294-7614; @Bryan_Denson