11:02 AM EST on Monday, March 7, 2005

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A mysterious death has a local family blaiming Louisville's VA Medical Center.

Timothy Chappell was arrested at the hospital this past week. He later died. His family claims the VA is negligent.

It was last Wednesday when Timothy Chappell visited a denitst at the VA. He was soon rushed to the emergency room.

But was later taken to Metro Corrections after refusing aid. Witnesses say he was incoherent. He later died. Now the family and a witness want to know what happened.

"And I said, 'Timmy, if it takes till the day I die I'm gonna make this right'," says Ginny Chappell, Timothy's sister.

On Saturday, she said goodbye to her brother, 40-year-old veteran Timothy Chappell

"We don't know how he died. That's irrelevant. I know how was treated while he was dying," she tells WHAS News. "It was pure negligence on the hospital's part."

Veteran Ray Logsdon watched everything in the VA Medical Center Emergency Room.

"Blood was coming from his nose and mouth and was all over and that was it and I thought 'My God, he's hemorraging'," Logsdon told WHAS11 News.

He says he didn't think the hospital staff took Timothy Chappell's condition seriously. Logsdon says the staff may have thought Chappell was a danger to himself.

The VA could not say any more on Sunday because the case is under review. But here is what they told us on Thursday, one day after Chappell's trip to the emergency room and dentist.

"During the procedure, Mr. Chappell became ill, was taken to the emergency room but refused treatment," said Amanda Hedlund of the VA Medical Center. "He was ultimately taken to University Hospital where he died."

When he reached the jail, Metro Corrections said TImothy Chappel was unconscious and unresponsive. He died a short time later at University Hospital.

"You were too good a man to die in the back of a cop car for no reason," says Ginny Chappell who is now starting life with out her brother and wondering many things.

"He, maybe, depending on what happened to him, could still be alive today," she says.

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office is awaiting toxicology tests. The family may also want an autopsy on Chappell's body.

Ginny Chappell says her brother was under disability but had no history of serious illness that may have caused something like this.

Meanwhile, Ginny Chappell says she has yet to speak with anyone from the VA Medical Center. The VA says it is working its case with Metro Police.