A man charged last week with brutally beating his sister, who woke up from a two-year coma and named him as her assailant, has died, according to West Virginia officials.
Daniel Palmer was booked into South Central Regional Jail in Charleston on July 15, with the 55-year-old charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding for the June 2020 attack on his sister Wanda Palmer.
The West Virginia Department of Homeland Security told NBC News in a statement that he was uncooperative while in custody and during booking procedures at the jail. According to officials, he was transported to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital on Wednesday, July 20, after an evaluation by jail medical staff.
Daniel Palmer dies days after being arrested for beating of sister
The statement said that Palmer was pronounced dead on Thursday, July 21. The West Virginia Department of Homeland Security ruled out suicide as a cause of death but no further details regarding his death were given.
Wanda was severely beaten on June 10, 2020, in her trailer in Cottageville, West Virginia. According to a complaint, she was discovered by lawn care workers at her home along Flatwoods Road so badly bludgeoned and covered in blood that responding police officers assumed she was mortally injured.
That was indeed the case for the next two years as she was in a comatose state, according to Law and Crime. Miraculously, Wanda started to regain some consciousness last month. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office reported that Wanda had awoken from a two-year coma on July 15, 2022. She pointed to her brother as the one who assaulted her. When asked why her brother assaulted her, Wanda stated that Daniel was mean, according to a complaint in the case.
Suspect died from multiple health issues
Daniel became combative during an initial court appearance last Friday and deputies had to drag him out of the courthouse. He had long denied any involvement in his sister's beating. According to investigators, he had always been a person of interest in the case. A witness also stated that he saw Daniel Palmer in the front doorway at Wanda's trailer at midnight on the night that she was assaulted. according to the complaint.
Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger told WSAZ that Daniel's death comes as a surprise. He said that when they arrested him, he was not sick and did not sustain any injuries. Mellinger added that he was obviously medically cleared for incarceration at South Central Regional Jail. As to the County Sheriff's understanding, his health took a rapid decline while he was incarcerated.
Mellinger said that Palmer was at the jail for five days before being taken to Charleston Area Medical Center. He said the suspect died at the hospital Thursday night from multiple health issues. He is unsure if there will be an autopsy conducted on the suspect.
