Spouse of man who died in Boone County Jail files wrongful death lawsuit in federal court

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The spouse of a man who died last year at the Boone County Jail has sued the jail’s medical provider Wednesday in federal court.

The lawsuit was filed by Grant Davis, who is described as the husband of Robert Muller-Russo in court documents. Defendants in the case includes jail nurse Melissa Hooks, her employer Turn Key Health Clinics and an unknown member of the jail’s medical staff referred to as “John Doe.”

All three defendants are accused of deliberate indifference to medical needs and wrongful death because of medical malpractice.

Muller-Russo died on April 23, 2025, according to previous reporting. He was 59 years old. He was being held for three misdemeanor charges after being arrested on April 16, previous reporting shows. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office had claimed in a press release at the time that “Contracted medical personnel, who were on site, were present when Mr. Muller-Russo was found.”

The lawsuit claims that Muller-Russo was jailed on April 7 and began having heart issues at 6:46 p.m. April 17. The unnamed staffer allegedly took vitals and determined there was nothing wrong with Muller-Russo, the petition says.

Other inmates reported to jail staff that Muller-Russo began having a possible seizure around 7:28 p.m. and staff allegedly determined there was nothing wrong with him again, the lawsuits says. An inmate then reported at 8:07 p.m. that Muller-Russo could not use his legs. He was then allegedly put in wheelchair and moved to a nurse’s holding cell, the petition says.

Muller-Russo allegedly awoke the next morning and could not see out of one of his eyes, but Hooks claimed he could after checking vitals, the petition says.

The Boone County Medical Examiner determined Muller-Russo died from “sepsis due to peritonitis resulting from appendicitis.”

 ABC 17 News reached out to Turn Key Health on Wednesday.