INDIANAPOLIS -- A wrongful death lawsuit just filed in federal court alleges the Marion County Sheriff’s Department fails to prevent suicides and doesn’t properly supervise and care for inmates.
DeJuan Shepherd committed suicide on January 23, 2014, while awaiting trial for auto theft, records show.
His attorney, Eric Pavlack, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on January 21, 2016 alleging Shepherd was suffering from heroin and alcohol withdrawals, and was also screened for bipolar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, and severe anxiety.
“DeJuan Shepherd’s physical and mental health problems made DeJuan Shepherd a suicide risk, and should have triggered enhanced evaluation and monitoring while he was in jail," the lawsuit read.
“Despite the jail’s actual and/or constructive knowledge of DeJuan Shepherd’s physical and mental health problems, the jail did not monitor or otherwise supervise him as a possible suicide threat. Instead, DeJuan Shepherd was immediately place in the jails general population.”
His father, Darryl Shepherd, spoke exclusively with Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney.
“He was my baby boy,” said Darryl Shepherd. “A lot of people say ‘they’re just inmates.’ But it was my son. And I’ve seen a lot more in him than they’ll ever see in him. For them, it was just another day on the job.”
Darryl said his son saw a psychiatrist at the jail just hours before hanging himself in a shower cell.
“I know he said something,” Darryl Shepherd said.
“He gave them some kind of alarm or something to let him know what he was thinking. That's the way he was. He would let you know what was on his mind."
Jail staff “even allowed DeJuan Shepherd access to tools and materials that he used to commit suicide," the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint says the Marion County Sheriff’s Department is responsible for the care and protection of inmates at the jail, including assessing and preventing suicides.
As Call 6 Investigates has reported, Marion County reported six in-custody deaths in 2015, most of them suicides.
PREVIOUS | CALL 6: County jail deaths down, still twice state average
“I don’t want to see this happen to somebody else’s son,” Darryl Shepherd said.
“The chain of command or something went wrong. He went from being protected and watched to just being put in regular population.”
Attorney Eric Pavlack filed a similar wrongful death lawsuit in federal court last month regarding the December 2014 suicide of Mark Snyder, who was in the Marion County jail awaiting trial for child molestation charges.
His widow, Jenifer Snyder, said Mark was confident he would win his criminal case. However, Snyder was found hanging from a clothes hook with a bed sheet around his neck on December 3, 2014.
“I just want (the jail) to be held accountable for the fact that his life was on their hands,” Snyder said.
“They were not watching him the way they should have been. And I just want them to be accountable. I want them to be responsible for what they have done."
The lawsuit alleges Mark Snyder suffered from depression and mental disturbances, and was having difficulty getting medication while in jail.
“He needed inhalers,” Snyder said.
“He had COPD, asthma, sleep apnea. He needed a sleeping machine. I don’t know if he got that.”
The lawsuit also states Snyder’s body was covered in numerous “physical traumas,” yet it is unclear how Snyder was injured.
Snyder’s widow questioned why her husband had access to materials to commit suicide, including a hook.
“I think they set them up," Snyder said.
“I don’t think they don’t intentionally want them to harm themselves, but it’s almost like it’s a set-up, because if you really wanted them to not harm themselves, (a hook) would not be provided.”
Both Jenifer Snyder and Darryl Shepherd said people need to realize inmates are also people who have not yet been convicted of a crime.
“You could slip up anytime and break the law and you could be right there,” Snyder said. “Sometimes you don’t even know you’re breaking the law.”
Darryl Shepherd is now helping to raise DeJuan’s children he left behind.
“We have to try to explain to them, and keep life going,” Shepherd said. “That’s really hard on their grandmother and it’s hard on me.”
The Marion County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment on either lawsuit.
In an announcement last month, Marion County Sheriff John Layton said he’s requested a five person review committee to examine the jail suicides that have occurred since 2010.
“Unfortunately, suicide is a serious risk in any jail,” Layton said in a statement issued last month.
“The Committee shall assist in our efforts to meet the highest jail standards. The Marion County Jails are already the only jails in Indiana to meet the stringent standards of the American Correctional Association, ACA, and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, NCCHC. Thus, the suicides are disturbing, unacceptable, and must be thoroughly assessed by outside experts.”
-----
Sign up to have the latest news headlines delivered straight to your email inbox
