Lawsuit filed in Marcus Johnson death
The mother of a man who hanged himself in the Burkburnett jail has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Burkburnett and Burkburnett Police Officer Daniel Elbaum.
Marcus Johnson, 22, was found hanged to death in the police department's jail on March 10, 2016. Johnson had been arrested earlier that day by Officer Daniel Elbaum and other officers on allegations he provided police a fake ID as the officers investigated a reported disturbance. Later that night, an officer found Johnson hanging in his cell by a drawstring from his pants.
Plaintiffs in the suit are Shelly Parham, Johnson’s mother, and Victor Hines III, independent administrator of Johnson’s estate.
The suit acknowledges that Johnson was “Severely emotionally and mentally troubled,” but contends his suicide resulted “from flagrant violation of constitutional rights.”
Litany of police errors preceded suicide of Burk jail inmate
It alleges that Johnson’s death was a violation of the Texas Wrongful Death Act and that the city of Burkburnett and Elbaum did not provide reasonable medical care to Johnson, who told Elbaum during his book-in to the jail that he had a history of suicide attempts.
“…the City was deliberately indifferent regarding its prisoners with suicidal tendencies,” the lawsuit claims, and also points to two other instances in the jail of attempted suicides by hanging.
It claims the police policy of checking jail inmates every 30 minutes and “more frequent observation” of prisoners with suicidal tendencies was “no policy at all” because it did not specify the frequency of the checks.
An internal police investigation revealed that Johnson had been left alone in his cell for two hours and had been denied opportunity to take his antipsychotic medication.
“This policy, as well as the failure to adopt an appropriate policy and related custom, were the moving forces behind the violation of Marcus’s rights and showed a deliberate indifference to the known or obvious consequences that constitutional violations would occur,” the suit says.
It also claims a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act because Johnson was discriminated against because of his mental disability.
Disability group opens investigation into Burk jail suicide
The suit does not place dollar amounts on what it hopes to obtain, but seeks recovery for Johnson’s “conscious physical pain, suffering and mental anguish experienced by him prior to his death,” funeral expenses, and medical expenses.
It also asks for damages alleged to Parham, including loss of services from her son, expense of the funeral, future mental anguish and emotional distress and loss of companionship.
The suit was filed at the Wichita County Courthouse Friday by Dean Malone, a Dallas attorney.
The internal investigation into the incident by Burkburnett Police resulted in Elbaum being suspended for one day without pay and a letter of reprimand being placed into the file of a second officer.