Reports: Nye County deputies never called medical as woman OD’d

Nye County deputies never called for medical assistance for a woman who was dying of a drug overdose at the county jail, according to police records.

One of the deputies made derogatory comments while the woman suffered for hours in custody.

Stevie Miller, 30, of Pahrump, died at Desert View Hospital on June 10 from a methamphetamine and fentanyl overdose after being housed at the county jail.

Nye County deputies Kyle D. Benes and Carlos A. Luna have since been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, inhumanity to a prisoner and neglect of duty resulting in the death.

On Tuesday evening, the Las Vegas Review-Journal obtained Nye County Sheriff’s Office affidavits in support of arrest for both men. The documents were provided to the newspaper following a records request filed with the Pahrump Justice Court.

According to the affidavits, Luna was watching a YouTube video and texting on his phone as Miller was suffering at the jail, according to the police records.

Luna referred to Miller as a “f——— goblin” as she was ailing, according to the affidavits.

Luna called her a “dumb b——,” the reports state, and asked an inmate worker to close a jail door so he didn’t have to listen to Miller groaning.

“That’s what happens kids when you do drugs,” Luna was quoted as saying in the arrest affidavits.

“She’s f——— up my video,” Luna said.

After the worker shut the door, Luna was heard saying “shut up, I don’t wanna hear that.”

He then said: “Good luck dog, that s—- fries your brain.”

Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill said Sunday that Miller was arrested June 9 after deputies chased her for suspicion of reckless driving in a high-speed vehicular pursuit north on Highway 160 from Highway 372 in Pahrump. Miller’s vehicle collided with two other vehicles, and she fled the scene on foot before deputies arrested her, McGill said.

“Oh hell no dog. She needs to shut the f—- up,” Luna said, according to the affidavits. “She shouldn’t be screaming. All of a sudden now you want to scream. Shut up.”

The reports state that after Miller died and the Nye County Sheriff’s Office started investigating her death, deputies “surreptitiously accessed the jail video surveillance without authorization to record their interviews and surreptitiously listen to detectives’ conversation regarding the investigation.”

Miller hospitalized, released with conditions

The affidavits state that after Miller was arrested, she was taken to Desert View Hospital in Pahrump “where it was learned that she had ingested fentanyl.” She was booked on several charges after her release from the hospital.

Medical staff directed police to keep Miller on observation while she was in custody, along with a condition that she “return to the hospital immediately” if she experienced abdominal pain and vomiting.

The affidavits detailed the final hours of Miller’s life:

On the morning of the 10th, Miller started vomiting in her cell. Benes later saw Miller in her cell, and she told him she couldn’t get up, the reports state.

Benes told her: “try to drink some water, you’re probably going to end up going to court today, so you’re going to have to figure out how to get up for court.”

At 8:16 a.m. Miller started to gag and vomit. She then vomited again three minutes later, and at one point she crawled through her vomit on the floor to get water from the sink.

Authorities said Miller told deputies she was “cramping so bad right now.” Benes said: “Yeah, well, court, the judge needs to see you.”

Miller then got up, stumbled and grabbed a shirt to put on while stepping in her own vomit. She was heard breathing heavily and observed to not be standing up straight. Upon exiting, deputies can be heard saying that the cell needs to be cleaned as soon as they go to court.

At 8:39 a.m. Miller was observed walking down the main corridor to court with an unsteady gait and bumping into a wall.

“She is then observed leaning to the left while hunched over,” the documents state. “Deputies attempt to stabilize her and she appears to almost fall backwards and a wheelchair is requested.”

Luna was later heard saying that the wheelchair is for the “dumb b——,” according to the reports.

Miller was taken to court for a brief appearance and then returned to the jail at 9:34 a.m.

Three minutes later, she vomited twice in her cell. At 10:51 a.m. she called the control room from her cell intercom, unintelligible and mumbling. She then asked for water and said, ‘I need to get out.’”

At 11:10 a.m. she vomited again. She fell asleep, then repeatedly vomited again.

At 2:31 p.m. Miller “experiences a change of behavior,” authorities said.

“(Her) body becomes rigid and it appears as though she is seizing, while having noticeable labored breathing,” authorities said. “As her body relaxes the breathing becomes more distressed into a loud agonal groaning.”

As Miller was groaning, the noise grew louder to an agonal vocalization, guttural groaning type of sound. The groan could be heard very clearly from inside of the booking control room, authorities said.

Authorities said at no point did any deputy contact medical staff to examine Miller or give her medication.

From 2:33 p.m. to 2:35 p.m., Miller’s breathing became labored “until she is no longer breathing and stops all movement.”

Fifteen minutes later, the deputies and a medical assistant entered her cell. The assistant attempted life saving measures before she was taken to the hospital where she died.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.