A Portland man awaiting trial for murder died earlier this year after he contracted COVID-19 at least twice in jail, leading to the discovery that he had throat cancer, his attorney said.

Everett Meserve died April 15 at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, according to a death certificate. He was 65. The cause was acute respiratory failure due to tracheostomy dislodgement.

His court-appointed attorney, Rob Andrews, said Meserve’s death was the result of an attempt to take his own life. He had removed a breathing tube that had been placed in his throat and was found unconscious on the floor of the hospital wing at Maine State Prison in Warren where he was being held.

Meserve was arrested in August 2019 for allegedly assaulting Rodney Cleveland, 63, who lived across the hall from Meserve in a building on Danforth Street for people who had experienced long-term chronic homelessness.

Cleveland’s wife discovered him severely injured and bleeding on Aug. 3 and called for help. Cleveland died several weeks later. Police investigating at the scene found Meserve outside the building where, unprompted, he told them “I didn’t do it,” according to a police affidavit.

An officer noticed Meserve had blood on his hands, face and clothing, and Meserve agreed to go to the police station for an interview.

The investigation relied on interviews with building residents and surveillance footage from inside the hallway outside both apartments. Information gathered by police showed that both Cleveland and Meserve were intoxicated that morning.

According to police, the footage showed another resident had checked on Cleveland about 7:30 a.m. and found him “extremely drunk,” according to police. The resident said Cleveland was upset with Meserve because he thought Meserve had looked at an eviction notice that had been posted on Cleveland’s door the day before.

An hour later, Meserve appeared on the video footage entering Cleveland’s unit empty-handed and wearing only camouflage pants. Another hour passed, and the camera caught Meserve leaving the apartment with an unknown object in his hand and walking back to his own apartment.

Cleveland’s wife found him several hours later. Investigators later found blood spatters and possible hair on a frying pan in the living room.

A grand jury indicted Meserve on one count of murder, Meserve pleaded not guilty in October, and a judge ordered him held at the Cumberland County jail without bail.

After he was jailed, Meserve contracted COVID-19 early during the pandemic in 2020, said Andrews, his attorney. The first infection was worrisome but Meserve recovered. The second infection came in November 2021, according to court records.

“He had the first episode (of COVID-19) early on and seemed to recover from that,” Andrews said. “The last two were a real problem.”

Andrews said he was attempting to prepare for trial and needed to meet with Meserve in person, but there was an outbreak at the jail near the end of 2021. When Andrews and Meserve spoke via video conference, Meserve was coughing and clearly sick. He was being held in isolation at first, but when Andrews spoke to Meserve by video a short time later, jail staff moved him to a congregate housing unit for sick prisoners.

“I could see in the background that there were lots of other people walking around, coughing and hacking, so I think they kept them all together at that point,” Andrews said. “I thought, ‘this is weird.’ Are they just going to put them all together so they can just die? And that’s how the jail chose to handle it.”

A few months later, in January 2022, Meserve tested positive for COVID-19 again, and this time his illness worsened. Andrews said it was never clear whether Meserve had two or three bouts with COVID, but the last infection became severe.

“In early January he was positive again, and that’s when they hauled him out of there,” Andrews said. “They took him to the hospital. They waited until he collapsed.”

While Meserve was receiving treatment at Maine Medical Center, doctors assessing his condition found a tumor in his throat that was obstructing his airway. Meserve had been a heavy smoker for decades, Andrews said.

But keeping Meserve at the hospital was costly, Andrews said. A corrections officer had to be posted in his room around the clock, and the jail was responsible for paying for his care.

By the beginning of February, Meserve was transferred from Maine Medical Center to the Maine State Prison in Warren, which has a secure medical wing. Doctors had inserted a tracheostomy tube that allowed him to breathe, but prevented him from talking. Meserve communicated by writing on a whiteboard.

On his third day at the prison, Meserve pulled out his breathing tube and was found unconscious on the floor. His blood-oxygen level had fallen to about 10 percent, causing severe brain damage. He was flown by LifeFlight helicopter back to Maine Medical Center, but never regained consciousness.

Maine Medical Center transferred Meserve to Gosnell house in  Scarborough, where he died on April 15. Andrews said Meserve refused treatment for the cancer, and believes he wanted to end his life.

After his death, Andrews said he tried to contact family, but could not find a relative who knew Meserve. He was buried at Forest City Cemetery in South Portland, his death certificate says.

The death certificate was finalized in June, and the murder case against him was dismissed in July.

“The closest we got was a relative was a distant person who knew of his existence,” said Andrews. It was the first time he encountered a sick and incarcerated client who refused life-saving treatment, he said.

“Maybe somebody will say, we didn’t do a great job here and we should do better,” Andrews said. “Maybe the people who had some control over the situation will say, ‘hey, that was a failure.’ I think Everett, in particular, deserved some dignity in his death.”

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