On Aug. 24, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri approved a settlement in a wrongful death suit against the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
The suit was filed by Janet Harris in June 2014. She claimed that her husband, Timothy Harris, 36, died a wrongful death on June 2, 2014 while he was an inmate at the jail due to the failure of the jail to provide medical treatment for serious health problems.
According to court documents, the parties came to agreement on the terms of the settlement as follows: A total undisclosed dollar amount is to be apportioned between Janet Harris, surviving spouse of Timothy Harris; Chelo Banks, mother of Timothy Harris; Russell Harris, father of Timothy Harris; Chelo Harris, daughter of Timothy Harris; Ruby Harris, daughter of Timothy Harris; and Mariah Harris, daughter of Timothy Harris.
It was also agreed that in lieu of cash payments to each of Timothy Harris’s minor children, they will each receive structured settlement annuities purchased by the Advance Correctional Healthcare defendants.
In addition, a portion of the settlement will be paid to Michele Puckett, Robert Ramsey and Jo Yeckel for reimbursement of expenses and attorney’s fees.
The court documents which detail the amounts of the financial settlement have been sealed.
The settlement will be paid by MOPERM, which is a state-operated risk management fund for Missouri public entities. MOPERM is a self-insurance fund with a membership of over 900 public entities. It is commonly known as a “shared-risk pool.”
The settlement hearing convened at 1:20 p.m. and concluded at 1:52 p.m., after testimony by Janet Harris and Chelo Banks. Thirteen exhibits were admitted. The court approved the settlement on the terms to which the parties had agreed, and the plaintiff was granted leave to withdraw the 13 exhibits. The hearing was conducted by Judge Ortrie Smith.
All defendants and third-party defendants denied any and all liability in the matter, but “having taken into consideration the expense, delay and uncertainty of the case,” the defendants agreed to the settlement.
Defendants which had been named in the case were the Daviess-DeKalb County Regional Jail District and associated officers which included the jail administrator Robert Gray (now deceased), the Daviess and DeKalb County sheriffs, and the presiding commissioners of both counties; Advanced Correctional Healthcare Inc. and associated individuals; and a third-party defendant, Symphony Diagnostic Services No. 1 LLC and associated individuals.
The plaintiffs executed a general release against all defendants, releasing them from any further liability in the case, as part of the settlement agreement.