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A woman died in Davis County jail after her spleen was nearly cut in half from blunt force trauma, according to an autopsy report The Salt Lake Tribune obtained Wednesday.
Heather Ashton Miller, 28, was arrested after police pulled over a car carrying her in Clearfield last December. Police say they found a bag of heroin in Miller's purse and a meth pipe in her bra.
She was taken to the Davis County jail Dec. 20. She died the next night in what her family's attorney calls "fishy" circumstances.
The medical examiner's report said Miller suffered from blunt force trauma, "sustained when she reportedly fell from the upper bunk in her cell while attempting to climb down."
Her spleen was nearly severed, the report said, and she had severe internal bleeding as a result. Aside from a small cut on her chin, Miller otherwise appeared to be in good health at the time of her death.
The medical examiner called her death accidental.
"They're saying she fell out of her top bunk, well she didn't have a bunkmate. Why would she be on the top bunk?" said Rocky Anderson, the former Salt Lake City mayor who is a private attorney. "I think it's very, very fishy."
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings on Wednesday asked for Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes' office to investigate, citing the desire to avoid conflicts of interest.
"After reviewing the investigative report submitted to our office by Weber County, we've made the determination to seek the involvement of the Utah Attorney General's Office moving forward," Rawlings told the Ogden Standard-Examiner on Wednesday.
"We believe the facts justify a review by that office, for whatever actions they deem appropriate, and to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest by keeping it here in Davis County," Rawlings said.
The Davis County Sheriff's Office said by phone Wednesday that no one could provide comment.
Dan Burton, a spokesman for the attorney general, confirmed that the office spoke with Rawlings, but he said it doesn't confirm whether it plans to move forward with requests for investigations.
Lt. Nate Hutchinson, a Weber County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said his agency investigated the incident at the request of Davis County Sheriff's Office.
"We stepped in and did an investigation, and we've completed and turned our findings over to the county attorney's office," Hutchinson said.
The county attorney's office filed drug possession charges — which were dropped Wednesday — on Dec. 30, eight days after Miller died.
Twitter: @TaylorWAnderson