Lawsuit says Michael Burch, who died in 2023, languished in cell for a week with no medical care after fight with deputy

A 69-year-old man slowly suffocated to death in a rural Colorado jail after his ribs were broken in an altercation with a deputy and he languished in a cell for a week without medical care, according to a lawsuit announced on Thursday.

Michael Burch’s 2023 death was ruled a homicide. Prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against the deputy who used a Taser on Burch and wrestled with him in a Huerfano county jail cell. In making the decision, district attorney Henry Solano cited self-defense laws.