County settles lawsuit in jail inmate’s death for $250K

San Angelo Standard-Times (TX)

April 12--SAN ANGELO -- Tom Green County settled a lawsuit filed by the heirs of a former county jail inmate for $250,000.

The settlement, which was handled through mediation, covers all attorneys' fees, court costs, and all damages as allowed by law, County Judge Steve Floyd said on Tuesday, April 11. He added that it would be paid by the county's insurance, Trident Insurance Services.

According to court documents, Jerry Ann McDaniel, 61, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, a non-violent drug offense, in January 2014. She had the option of completing probation and paying a fine, but she elected to serve a short jail sentence --28 days -- instead because she couldn't afford the $302 fine.

About four weeks after entering the jail, McDaniel was transported to a local hospital, where she died on Feb. 16, 2014.

Lawyers for McDaniel's widower and son filed the lawsuit in January 2016 in the Fifth Circuit Court of the Northern District of Texas. The county, Sheriff David Jones and several other county personnel were named as defendants.

The lawsuit alleged that McDaniel, who suffered from many serious medical problems -- including drug addiction, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), hypothyroidism and Hepatitis C -- died because officials failed to provide adequate medical care and safe conditions of confinement.

Court documents contained this timeline of allegations:

* Jan. 14, 2014: McDaniel arrived at the jail to serve her sentence.

* Feb. 2, 2014: McDaniel fell and fractured her wrist. The complaint alleged a nurse at the jail gave her ibuprofen and failed to record the encounter in McDaniel's medical records.

* Feb. 4, 2014: McDaniel fell again and struck her head while being transported to the local methadone clinic to receive medication. There were no entries in McDaniel's medical records after Jan. 27, 2014, despite her having suffered a broken wrist and two falls and the jail's awareness of her medical problems.

* Feb. 5, 2014: McDaniel submitted a sick-call request to see a doctor. McDaniel reported stomach pain, vomiting and said she had "fallen several times." The request was never answered and she was never seen by medical staff at the jail again.

* 4:30 a.m. Feb. 9: Jail personnel came to McDaniel's cell to distribute her prescription medications. They noted she was weak and struggled to sit up. They placed pills in her mouth and poured water in her mouth to get her to take the pills.

* 6:30 a.m. Feb. 9, 2014: Another jailer checked on McDaniel and performed a brief medical evaluation. Concerned about McDaniel's condition, and because her blood pressure and blood sugar levels were extremely low, the jailer called an ambulance. At the hospital, McDaniel was immediately placed in the ICU. She was diagnosed with sepsis, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress, congestive heart failure and liver failure.

* No date: At some point, the county released her from custody, although she still had several days left to serve on her sentence. The lawsuit alleged that the county's policy, practice and custom was to avoid paying for prisoners' medical care at all costs, especially after they were hospitalized.

* Feb. 16, 2014: McDaniel died at the hospital.

According to court documents, the plaintiffs alleged McDaniel was not the only prisoner to die because of denials of medical care at the jail. In 2014, two other inmates died at the jail when they were denied medical care. The complaint also noted that "failing and refusing to report deaths of inmates after they left the jail was part of Tom Green County's policy, practice, and custom of denying inmates' medical care at the jail."

The Texas Jail Project, an Austin-based advocacy group that works to improve conditions for the incarcerated, has an article on its website about the death of 58-year-old Gregory Lange -- a retired Runnels County Justice of the Peace who was in the Tom Green County Jail for a DWI conviction. Jailers found Lange unresponsive and unconscious on Oct. 17, 2014. He was transported him to Shannon Medical Center, where he died the next day.

According to the article, Sheriff Jones said Lange had a medical condition and that deaths at the jail were rare. "This is the only death that we've had this year. Uh, like I said, this death was due to a medical condition," Jones is quoted as saying in the article.

The Commissioners Court authorized the settlement with McDaniel's heirs on Tuesday, April 11, in its regular meeting, following a closed executive session. Judge Steve Floyd left the meeting, along with Sheriff Jones, to attend another mediation involving a separate case.

In other business, the Commissioners Court:

* Accepted a donation of 14.85 acres from Addison Lee Pfluger. According to the deed, signed by both parties, Pfluger donated the property -- around Susan Peak Road -- to be used for road and utility purposes. If the county stops using the land for those specified purposes or decides to abandon it, the acreage will revert back to Pfluger or his heirs.

* Accepted 2.2 miles of roadway from the Iron Horse I Homeowners Association, a Wall subdivision. The association, which was in charge of maintaining the roads, has now passed on the responsibility to the county, along with a payment of $55,000 to help offset the cost of future maintenance. The paved roads under this agreement are: Iron Horse Drive, Waterloo Drive, McCormick Drive, Harvester Lane, Avery Lane, Oliver Lane and Moline Lane.

* Recognized the Concho Valley Transit District as recipient of the Outstanding Rural Transit System Award from the Texas Transit Association.

* Allowed West Central Texas Specialty Feeding Team to use the covered parking lot and outdoor utilities at the facility maintenance building for the benefit barbecue for the Through God Comes Justice jail ministry. The fundraiser will be April 20.

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