Scott Dozier’s cause of death was suicide by hanging. The Nevada death row inmate was found in his cell at Ely State Prison on the afternoon of January 5, 2019, and the Clark County Coroner’s Office ruled that he had hanged himself.18 News Now. Coroner: Hanging Was Cause of Death for Inmate Scott Dozier He was 48. His death ended a years-long standoff in which Dozier had asked Nevada to execute him and the state, blocked by pharmaceutical company lawsuits, could not.
How He Died
Correctional officers found Dozier in his cell on the afternoon of January 5, 2019. He had used a bed sheet, tied to an air vent, to hang himself.2Sierra Nevada Ally. Scott Raymond Dozier Commits Suicide in Ely State Prison He was housed alone and was not on suicide watch at the time.3ABC News. Death Row Inmate Found Dead in Cell After Execution Called Off Staff attempted emergency medical care. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene at roughly 4:35 p.m.4MyNews4. Scott Dozier Found Dead in Ely State Prison
The Clark County Coroner’s Office later confirmed the cause of death as hanging and the manner as suicide.18 News Now. Coroner: Hanging Was Cause of Death for Inmate Scott Dozier The Nevada Department of Corrections said it did not immediately know when guards had last checked on him before his body was found.
A History of Suicide Attempts
The Department of Corrections acknowledged that Dozier had attempted suicide multiple times before his death.3ABC News. Death Row Inmate Found Dead in Cell After Execution Called Off In the months leading up to January 2019, prison officials had placed him in an isolation cell for mental health evaluations after repeated suicidal threats. In October 2018, he reportedly cut his neck and wrist with a razor. Prison staff also discovered that his sister had mailed him an anatomy textbook containing hand-written diagrams identifying major blood vessels and where to cut them.5Reno Gazette Journal. Nevada Death Row Inmate Sought Deadly Drug for Suicide Guards intercepted a separate plot to smuggle concentrated liquid drugs into the prison on a page of a mailed letter.
Despite that record, Dozier was moved off suicide watch and returned to death row around November 2, 2018, after officials determined the immediate concerns had subsided.5Reno Gazette Journal. Nevada Death Row Inmate Sought Deadly Drug for Suicide He died roughly two months later. A mitigation specialist working on his case had previously found that at least five relatives on his mother’s side had died by suicide, including his grandfather, who killed himself when Dozier was five.6The Marshall Project. The Volunteer
Why He Was on Death Row
Dozier was sentenced to death in Nevada on October 3, 2007, for the first-degree murder of 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller of Peoria, Arizona.7CaseMine. Dozier v. State, No. 50817 In April 2002, Miller had traveled to Las Vegas with $12,000 to buy methamphetamine precursors, and prosecutors argued Dozier killed him to steal the money. Miller’s dismembered torso was found on April 25, 2002, inside a suitcase in a trash bin at a Las Vegas apartment complex. His head and extremities were never recovered, and the coroner ruled the specific cause of death “undetermined.”8The Nevada Independent. Drugs, Dismemberment Led “Great Kid” Scott Dozier to Nevada’s Death Row
Before that trial, Dozier had already been convicted in Maricopa County, Arizona, of second-degree murder for killing 26-year-old Jasen “Griffin” Greene, a roommate and fellow meth cook. Authorities said Dozier shot Greene in the back of the head with a .22-caliber rifle, broke his legs to fit the body into a container, and buried it in the desert. The remains were found on September 23, 2002. Dozier was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 22 years.8The Nevada Independent. Drugs, Dismemberment Led “Great Kid” Scott Dozier to Nevada’s Death Row
Why He Was Still Alive to Kill Himself
In October 2016, Dozier dropped his appeals and asked Nevada to carry out his sentence. He told the Marshall Project, “I’d rather be dead than do this,” and called the prospect of spending the rest of his life on death row “unfathomable.”9The New York Times. Scott Dozier, Death Row Inmate, Dies by Suicide in Nevada Prison The state agreed to try. It could not.
Nevada had not executed anyone since 2006, and its Department of Corrections struggled to obtain drugs. In 2016, the department received zero bids after sending 247 requests for proposals to pharmaceutical suppliers.10NPR. Nevada Postpones Planned Execution Using Fentanyl The state assembled a three-drug protocol of diazepam, fentanyl, and the paralytic cisatracurium and scheduled an execution for November 14, 2017. Judge Jennifer Togliatti granted a stay after Dozier’s federal public defenders argued that the paralytic served no purpose other than potentially masking signs of pain if the other drugs failed.11The Nevada Independent. Execution Likely Stalled After Judge Sides With Pharmaceutical Company By the time the Nevada Supreme Court heard the appeal in May 2018, the state’s diazepam supply had expired.12The Nevada Independent. Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Untested Lethal Injection Method
Nevada replaced the diazepam with the sedative midazolam and set a new execution date for July 11, 2018, which would have been the first use of fentanyl in a U.S. execution. On the eve of the date, the pharmaceutical company Alvogen sued, alleging Nevada had fraudulently obtained its midazolam by having it shipped through the state’s Chief Medical Officer and the wholesale distributor Cardinal Health to a Las Vegas pharmacy rather than to the prison directly.13Reno Gazette Journal. Drug Maker Alvogen Sues to Stop Nevada Execution Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez held an emergency hearing on the morning of July 11 and issued a temporary restraining order less than 11 hours before the scheduled execution.14CBS News. Nevada Judge Halts Use of Drug Hours Before Execution After Company’s Suit It was the first time a pharmaceutical company had successfully sued to halt a U.S. execution involving one of its drugs.15KUNR. Judge Halts Nevada Execution Sandoz and Hikma Pharmaceuticals later joined the litigation over cisatracurium and fentanyl.16American Bar Association. Nevada to Return Execution Drugs
On September 28, 2018, Judge Gonzalez issued a 43-page ruling finding that the Nevada Department of Corrections had acted in “bad faith” to obtain the midazolam and granted a preliminary injunction against its use. Attorney General Adam Laxalt appealed, and some state officials floated alternatives including the firing squad.17The Marshall Project. Scott Dozier Still Wants to Be Executed, and He’s Still Waiting The litigation was still unresolved when Dozier killed himself on January 5, 2019.
What Happened After His Death
With Dozier dead, the Nevada Supreme Court vacated the preliminary injunction and dismissed the appeal as moot in October 2019. By April 2020, the state agreed to return its remaining supply of execution drugs to the manufacturers in exchange for a refund, settling the litigation.16American Bar Association. Nevada to Return Execution Drugs Cisatracurium had expired in June 2019 and midazolam in January 2020, leaving the state with no execution drugs at all.
The pattern repeated when Nevada tried to execute Zane Floyd, convicted of murdering four people at a Las Vegas supermarket in 1999. The Department of Corrections again purchased a drug, ketamine, from Cardinal Health without disclosing its intended use. Hikma Pharmaceuticals sent cease-and-desist letters, the state missed the deadline to obtain an execution warrant before the ketamine expired in February 2022, and a state attorney conceded it was “impossible” to execute Floyd with the available supply.18Death Penalty Information Center. Deadline to Seek Execution of Zane Floyd Before Lethal Injection Drugs Expire Passes Nevada has not executed anyone since 2006 and has 59 people on death row.19Nevada Current. Legislation Would Extend Review Period Between Death Warrant and Execution