Sheriff Settles Lawsuit Related to the Preventable Suicide of a 19-year-old Male Pre-Trial Detainee

Type of Injury: Wrongful Death

Type of Case: Settlement

Settlement Amount: $400,000.00

Jurisdiction: Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit (Winnebago County, IL).

Plaintiffs alleged that the Sheriff violated the applicable duty of care by (1) failing to properly monitor and/or observe M-19 and (2) failing to provide M-19 a suicide-safe environment that eliminated or minimized hanging points.

On August 23, 2017, M-19 was indicted on counts of first-degree murder and aggravated battery. M-19 claimed he acted in self-defense.

On and before January 20, 2018, M-19 was a pretrial detainee with a recent history of self-harm and suicide attempts. In the weeks preceding January 20th, M-19 had been seen by health care professionals from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford and was cleared to be placed on the subject tier.  U of I continued to treat and/or visit M-19 in the same cell of the incident. The medical records from U of I show M-19 did not show any signs of suicide ideation near the time of the incident. No other inmates believed M-19 was a threat for suicide.

At all times relevant herein, the State of Illinois required all “jail officers and other personnel primarily assigned to correctional duties shall be trained on suicide prevention and mental health issues.” Ill. Admin. Code tit. 20, § 701.90(h).

On Saturday, January 20, 2018, according to the Incident Report, at approximately 3:15 a.m., a correctional officer (C/O) observed M-19 standing up and pacing around his cell (i.e., showing signs of agitation). Upon his arrival of seeing this behavior, C/O did not engage M-19 to assess the circumstances. Although he was responsible for conducting personal observation checks between 3:15 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and touched his watchclock seven (7) times (0316, 0330, 0345, 0401, 0416, 0431, 0446) during that period, C/O did not recall seeing M-19 in his cell between 3:15 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

Although he was responsible for the safety of the inmates, C/O did not know if M-19 had a chair in his cell before he hung himself. Despite not knowing whether M-19 had a chair in his cell, at approximately 5:00 a.m., C/O observed M-19’s body against the wall between the cell door and the shower in what he characterized as a sitting position at approximately chair height against the wall and underneath a TV stand (where M-19 hung himself) with his arm extended. This observation by C/O was brief and not meaningful in any way. Again, C/O did not engage M-19 to assess the circumstances.

Thereafter, at approximately 5:15 a.m., C/O was conducting rounds when he observed M-19 still sitting in his cell underneath a shelf with his arm extended. Only then did C/O open the cell and observe M-19 with a thermal shirt around his neck that was tied to the shelf he was sitting underneath. M-19 hung himself from the wall-mounted TV stand in his cell before 5:00 a.m. on January 20, 2018. M-19 was pronounced dead at approximately 5:50 a.m. An autopsy concluded that M-19 died of asphyxiation by hanging.

Injuries: Due to the alleged negligence (willful and wanton conduct) of the defendant, M-19 committed suicide while in jail custody.

M-19 was represented in this highly-contested case by Craig Sandberg.

The above summary is specific to a particular case and is not intended as a projected outcome on any other matter.