CANADIAN COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR)- A 78-year-old Canadian County inmate died hours after a judge denied him medical treatment in July.
Wade Womack allegedly showed up to a family home in Yukon with “war paint” on his face and a promise to kill.
Wade Womack was arrested in June on six counts of assault with a deadly weapon for inciting a Father’s Day family shootout.
He was then booked at the Canadian County Jail where in his booking photo, there are no visible injuries.
Credit: Canadian County Jail
Three weeks later, Womack appeared for a bond hearing in front of Canadian County Judge Khristian Strubhar.
Womack was wheelchair bound and had a massive bruise to the right side of his head.
The same day, his former attorney, Karla Tankut met Womack for the first time and told KFOR in a previous interview that he looked nothing like his booking photo.
“Open wounds, bleeding, a big bruise on his head. He was in a wheelchair and he was unresponsive,” said Tankut. “He was in a diaper. He can’t eat by himself. He can’t use the bathroom.”
At that point, Tankut said getting his bond approved was the least of her worries.
“I wasn’t even concerned with their bond. I argued for him to immediately be transferred to a medical facility,” added Tankut. “I believed he would be dead very soon if he didn’t get care.”
Tankut said she argued Canadian County Jail did not have “adequate” medical resources.
However, Canadian County Assistant Director, Austin Murrey argued against that, supposedly telling Judge Strubhar that Womack was faking his injuries and that he’s dangerous.
Judge Strubhar sided with Murrey and denied the medical request. Womack’s bond was also denied.
Womack was returned to jail where he died less than 24 hours later in his cell.
According to Canadian County Sheriff Chris West in a previous interview, deputies found Womack unresponsive in his cell and proceeded to administer CPR.
An ambulance was then called and Womack was transported to an El Reno hospital. He was later transferred to an OKC hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Sheriff West said no foul play on the jail’s part was suspected at that time.
Four months later and the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office released a medical summary for Womack.
It’s limited information, but revealed in the report is that Womack’s probable cause of death is atherosclerotic hypertensive cardiovascular disease sequela.
His probable cause of death is labeled as a “natural cause.”
Womack also tested positive for Covid on July 7, according to the summary.
The report stated Womack had blunt force trauma to his head, torso and extremities as well, but with no skull fractures or significant internal bleeding.
“I’m not happy about it. I mean, you don’t want your parents beat in somewhere. I know a lot of stuff happened. I understand that. But they didn’t try to help them. They didn’t do nothing,” said Womack’s son, Mickey.
Mickey told KFOR the jail never called him and his family to inform them of Womack’s passing and now he’s being informed of Womack’s autopsy summary through KFOR.
“You all got everything before I did. I’m the biological son and I’m the last in line for everything,” added Mickey.
Mickey described his dad as a “good person,” saying he loved his grandkids and loved him.
He’s frustrated because now he feels “helpless. I feel like the system took advantage of a person and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
News 4 reached out to Sheriff West for comment on the report’s findings, but he said due to “pending litigation,” he would not.
There wasn’t any pending litigation that KFOR could find in court records though.
News 4 called Sheriff West once more and told him there wasn’t pending litigation found.
“I’m not going to take your word on it. You’re not my legal people,” he said. “I will say this and this doesn’t necessarily pertain to this case, but just because blunt force trauma is listed on death certificates does not mean that somebody beat him. Older people can fall down and bump their head.”
Sheriff West said he would get in touch with his legal team before they made any comment, but we haven’t heard back yet.
The full Medical Examiner’s report is typically sent to KFOR shortly after the summary, so as soon as we receive it, it’ll be shared.
