The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies who forcefully subdued an unruly inmate moments before he died in custody will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said Thursday.

The family of the inmate, however, filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the deputies of choking and beating Michael Jones to death as he lay naked and shackled on the concrete floor.

The 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office ruled out bringing the case before a grand jury, a decision Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal said vindicated his steadfast assertion that his deputies followed protocol in detaining Jones.

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“I knew that our guys didn’t do anything,” Ackal said. “It’s a thing that you go through in this type of business … especially in corrections you’re going to have incidents like this.”

The deputies appear to be off the hook on the criminal level but could be held liable for Jones’ death in civil court. The wrongful death claim seeks an unspecified amount of damages from the deputies as well as Ackal and Warden Frank Ellis.  

Prosecutors determined from a Louisiana State Police investigation into the Feb. 13 death that charges would be “unwarranted.” But the lawsuit, drawing from two previously undisclosed autopsy reports, offers the most detailed account to date of the injuries Jones sustained during a violent struggle with deputies.

Iberia Parish Coroner Dr. James Falterman Sr. this summer said he detected in Jones a significant amount of heart disease and listed a number of related complications that could have contributed to his death. But Falterman’s autopsy left the manner of death undetermined.

According to excerpts of Falterman’s report, Jones was subjected to blunt force trauma to the head and body. He received a number of bruises, abrasions and neck compressions that caused bleeding of the thyroid gland. 

The lawsuit alleges Jones died while a deputy applied a choke hold around his neck, citing the compressions as evidence of strangulation. The wrongful death claim also revealed the findings of Dr. Emil M. Laga, a pathologist hired to conduct a private autopsy.

Laga found bleeding in Jones’ throat, a left jaw fracture, broken teeth, brain congestion and swelling and widespread internal bleeding.

“The killing of Michael Jones lasted from five to 10 minutes,” the lawsuit alleges. “During this time, Michael Jones experienced extreme pain, suffering and mental anguish.”

The lawsuit accuses the jail officials of using excessive force in responding to Jones’ erratic behavior in the cell, depicting an agonizing death in which several deputies stood on Jones’ limbs while another held a hand over his mouth to prevent him from breathing.

“This caused Michael Jones to make a loud gurgling sound which was heard by everyone,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Michael Jones also continued to choke on his own sputum.”

The narrative of the lawsuit is not attributed to witnesses or investigators, and it was not clear what evidence the plaintiffs would use to substantiate their claims. Jarvis J. Claiborne, the Opelousas lawyer representing the Jones family, declined to comment Thursday.

Jones was arrested in Abbeville the morning of his death on charges of creating a drunken disturbance. As is common with arrested on misdemeanors in Abbeville, Jones was transferred to the Iberia Parish Jail to be booked after he was cleared at Abbeville General Hospital.

The lawsuit, which refers to Jones as a “mental patient,” alleges Jones was not cleared by the psychiatric department and that he arrived in New Iberia in a psychotic state.

Shortly after Jones was placed in his cell, authorities said he began exposing himself and making strange sounds. According to authorities, Jones bit Ellis in the chest when the warden tried to attend to him.

But the lawsuit alleges Jones only bit Ellis after he was “severely beaten for no justified reason.”