Man jailed after sister awakens from two-year coma dies in police custody

JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ/Gray News) – A man who was arrested last week in connection with an attack that left his sister in a two-year coma has died, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Daniel Palmer of Cottageville was pronounced dead Thursday, a day after he was taken to a Charleston hospital, said the state’s Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Division of Corrections, in a news release.

Palmer, 55, was uncooperative while in custody and during booking procedures at the South Central Regional Jail, where he was taken July 15, the Associated Press said.

He was arrested July 15 and was facing charges of attempted murder and malicious wounding following an incident in June of 2020 near Cottageville.

His sister, Wanda Palmer, was discovered by lawn care workers at her home suffering from severe head injuries.

“They came that morning to mow her grass and found her in a pool of blood,” said Eileen Palmer, Wanda Palmer’s mother.

Daniel Palmer had been suspected in the attack, but authorities didn’t have enough evidence to arrest him until Wanda Palmer woke up from the coma this month and identified him as her attacker.

The cause of death for Daniel Palmer wasn’t disclosed, and state law only allows the agency to release autopsy information to relatives and law enforcement, the Associated Press reported.