MILWAUKEE — An inquest began Monday, April 24th in connection with the death of Terrill Thomas, an inmate who died at the Milwaukee County Jail last April as a result of homicide by dehydration. During the first day of the jury trial, we learned exactly how long prosecutors say Thomas went without water. 
 
 The 38-year-old Thomas was found dead in his cell on April 24th, 2016. 
 
 Exactly one year later on Monday, the jury pool was whittled down from 25 potential candidates to six jurors and two alternates. They will hear testimony regarding the week Thomas spent in the Milwaukee County Jail last April — the final week of his life. 
 
 “Inmates will tell you, ‘Mr. Thomas is asking for water,'” said Kurt Benkley, Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office investigator. 
 
 Prosecutors say Thomas went a full week without access to water. He was taken to jail after an incident earlier in April 2016, in which Thomas fired a gun outside his home and then opened fire inside Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. He’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder a year before that and was held in a “special needs” cell at the jail. 
 
 “I knew that earlier in the week, he had been moved from the mental health housing unit across the hall to 4-D,” said Lieutenant Jeffrey Andrykowski, Milwaukee County Jail. 
 
 Lieutenant Andrykowski said “4-D” referred to the discipline unit. Andrykowski said it was his understanding Thomas was moved to the discipline unit after using his bedding to flood his cell in the special needs unit. 
 
 Andrykowski said he was working the morning Thomas was found dead in his cell. He said he was never told the water was turned off in Thomas’ new cell — adding such a decision would go against jail protocol. 
 
 When asked whether that would be something that is done in the sheriff’s office – cutting off the water in the new cell for an individual that’s been moved for flooding issues – Andrykowski said “No, it would not.” 
 
 As the trial moves forward, prosecutors say the jury will hear from inmates who were near Thomas and heard him call for water. 
 
 By the end of the week, jurors will be asked to answer these questions: 
 
 “What was the cause of Mr. Thomas’ death? Was it the result of criminal activity? And if so, who committed the crime?” said Benkley. 
 
 It’s important to remember the jury does not have the final say as whether Thomas’ death was criminal. Their verdict is a suggestion for the district attorney, who will then decide whether to file charges. 
 
 Thomas was one of four people (including a newborn) to die at the Milwaukee County Jail within a six-month period in 2016. ||||| Inquest into Terrill Thomas' death begins on anniversary of his death inside Milwaukee County Jail 
 
 Prosecutors: Jail inmate went 7 days without water before dying of dehydration 
 
 Staff at the Milwaukee County Jail cut off inmate Terrill Thomas' water supply for seven days until he ultimately died of dehydration, prosecutors said Monday at an inquest beginning on the anniversary of his death. 
 
 Thomas, 38, was taken into custody following a shooting at Potawatomi Casino. Staffers at the jail shut off the water supply to his cell because Thomas had cut up his mattress and used it to flood his cell, Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley said. 
 
 The testimony corroborates what Thomas' father, T.J. Thomas, told WISN 12 NEWS after his son's death was ruled a homicide. 
 
 Six jurors are hearing the inquest, which is expected to take a week, and they will issue a advisory verdict as to whether criminal charges are warranted in the case. There is no defense and prosecutors are not required to follow the jury's verdict. 
 
 
 
 In shutting off Thomas' water, prosecutors said the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail, ignored its own department rules stating that all inmates should have access to running water and a functioning toilet. 
 
 
 
 "This order to shut off Mr. Thomas' water was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail," Benkley said. 
 
 
 
 Deputy Medical Examiner Wieslawa Tlomak testified that people can survive three to four days without water. 
 
 "Maximum time people can survive without water is one week," he said. 
 
 Additionally, prosecutors said jail staffers didn't follow procedures by notating critical inmate information in a jail log or on a dry-erase board. 
 
 Thomas' family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Thomas was "subjected to a form of torture" during his 10 days in solitary confinement. 
 
 Thomas was one of three inmates who died at the Milwaukee County Jail last year. An inmate's baby also died at the jail. The sheriff's office is being sued for that death. 
 
 ||||| CLOSE An inquest has been ordered following the April 2016 dehydration death of Milwaukee County Jail inmate Terrill Thomas. Here's how an inquest works, and how the only other Milwaukee County inquest in the past decade ended. Jacob Carpenter 
 
 Terrill Thomas (left) is shown with his 20-year-old son, also named Terrill, at his son's high school graduation in 2014. (Photo: Family photo) 
 
 Terrill Thomas spent seven straight days holed up in a solitary confinement cell with no running water, slowly withering away. 
 
 Thomas started the weeklong stretch at the Milwaukee County Jail belligerent and loud, the result of an untreated mental illness, prosecutors said. But as the days wore on, he grew weak and dehydrated. He lost nearly 35 pounds and turned quiet, never asking for or receiving medical attention. 
 
 Barely two hours into his eighth day in solitary, jail staff found Thomas, 38, dead on his jail cell floor, the result of profound dehydration. 
 
 Prosecutors on Monday began the process of publicly airing the circumstances surrounding Thomas' death in April 2016, opening their inquest into whether any jail staff should be criminally charged for failing to help him. 
 
 An inquest is a rarely used legal process that allows prosecutors to question witnesses under oath and in front of a jury before they file any criminal charges. The jury then returns a unanimous verdict as to whether there's probable cause to charge anybody, and what those charges should be. 
 
 Prosecutors are not required to follow the jury's verdict. They have not said whom they might consider charging. 
 
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 Through an opening statement and testimony from several witnesses, prosecutors laid out how the confluence of the violation of a sheriff's office policy, an unusual jail practice, Thomas' mental illness and inattentiveness by corrections officers led to Thomas' death. 
 
 In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley said surveillance videos show three corrections officers cut off the water in Thomas' cell – a disciplinary measure after Thomas flooded another cell – and never turned it back on. The same officers never documented the water cutoff or notified supervisors, leaving fellow corrections officers in the dark. 
 
 "This order to shut off Mr. Thomas' water was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail," Benkley said. 
 
 Benkley added that Thomas apparently didn't receive water or other drinks along with his food. Jail policies called for inmates to drink water from their sinks -- which Thomas couldn't do. 
 
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 In theory, Thomas could have caused a commotion over his lack of water. But Benkley said the evidence will show Thomas' bipolar disorder – which the jail's staff knew about – made it apparent he "was unable to tell people about his basic needs." Thomas was in jail following an arrest on charges that he shot a man, drove to the Potawatomi casino and fired two rounds inside the building. Family members said he was in the throes of a mental breakdown. 
 
 It remains unclear how much corrections officers knew about Thomas' deteriorating condition. Inmates have previously told the Journal Sentinel they complained to jail staff about Thomas' lack of water. At least 20 corrections officers worked on the solitary confinement wing during the week Thomas was housed there. 
 
 Based on the prosecutors' opening statement, it appears clear policies were violated. But prosecutors face a taller task in proving criminal acts. 
 
 In prior court filings, prosecutors said the "potential crime" relevant to the inquest is abuse of a prisoner, a low-level felony charge. To prove that charge, prosecutors would have to show jail staff neglected Thomas or knowingly allowed the neglect to occur. 
 
 It's expected that most corrections officers will testify they were not aware that Thomas' water was cut off. Decorie Smith, an officer who worked three overnight shifts on Thomas' wing during his incarceration, testified Monday he was never informed Thomas' water was off and Thomas never asked for water. 
 
 "If someone requests, 'Can I get my water turned on?' and I find out their water is off, I turn it on," Smith testified. Both Smith and his lieutenant, Jeffrey Andrykowski, said sheriff's office policy does not allow for indefinitely shutting off an inmate's water. 
 
 It remains unclear whether any evidence will show Thomas was offered any other forms of water during his solitary confinement stint. Milwaukee County Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Wieslawa Tlomak, who performed the autopsy, testified she asked for that information from police, and received nothing to suggest Thomas had access to any water. 
 
 Although it likely doesn't factor into his death, Thomas was never once taken out of his solitary confinement cell during his seven days there, prosecutors also noted. Inmates are typically given one hour of recreation time per day. 
 
 The inquest is expected to last about five days. 
 
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– As Terrill Thomas was placed in solitary confinement at Milwaukee County Jail on April 17, 2016, a corrections officer was seen on surveillance video turning off the water in his cell. It remained off for seven days before Thomas, 38, died of dehydration, a jury heard Monday. The six jurors will produce an advisory verdict on whether criminal charges should be filed in the case, involving one of four deaths at the jail in a six-month period. Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley says the decision to shut off Thomas' water—without making note of the move in jail logs or on a whiteboard in the solitary confinement unit—"was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail," reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Thomas—who was moved to solitary confinement after flooding a section of the jail's special needs unit—wasn't taking his medication for bipolar disorder and "was unable to tell people about his basic needs," Benkley says. Inmates have said they asked corrections officers to intervene. However, one of at least 20 officers on duty in the solitary confinement unit during the week of Thomas' death testified Monday that he was unaware Thomas' water had been shut off. He added inmates in that unit only received a drink with their meals on Sundays, per Fox 6. Family members have filed a federal lawsuit alleging Thomas was "subjected to a form of torture" during his incarceration, which followed a shooting at a hotel and casino, per WISN.