SHERIFFS SUED IN JAIL SUICIDE CASE

Dan Blue and Dhamian Blue, both attorneys with Blue Stephens & Fellers LLP, have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the estate of a mentally ill man who hanged himself while he was confined in the Burke Catawba District Confinement Facility, located in Morganton, North Carolina.

The lawsuit alleges that the sheriffs of Burke County and Catawba County, and certain detention officers, violated Kenyatta Houston’s federal and state civil rights by failing to provide adequate medical care and supervision, despite obvious symptoms of severe mental illness and suicidal ideation.  The complaint also contends that jail detention officers routinely and knowingly falsified records to indicate that they regularly monitored pre-trial detainees when, in fact, severely mentally ill detainees such as Mr. Houston often were left alone for periods that exceeded one hour.  North Carolina law requires the direct observation of suicidal inmates every fifteen minutes.  Jail detention officers did not monitor or supervise Mr. Houston for nearly an hour and a half.

Blue Stephens & Fellers LLP is a small, boutique, litigation law firm that was founded in 1976, and is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Its lawyers have extensive experience representing families in wrongful death and severe personal injury cases.  For more information about our firm, please contact info@tbsf-law.com or (919) 833-1931.