RICHMOND, Va -- The family of a man who died while in custody at the Richmond City Jail is suing Sheriff Antionette Irving and unidentified deputies for more than $5 million.
The complaint, filed by the deceased inmate's sister Carla Wade who is represented by attorneys Noel Brooks and Jesse Baez, alleges that negligence exhibited under Irving's leadership led to the death of Steven Carey.
Carey, 37-years-old at the time of his death on January 11, was the fourth inmate in less than year to die while at the Richmond City Justice Center, which is run and managed by Sheriff Irving.
“I’m in total shock honestly, because I thought he was safer in the jail," Wade told CBS 6 through tears a day after Carey's death. "What happened? We don't even know. No one will give us answers."
Weeks later, a medical examiner ruled Carey's death a fentanyl overdose.
“Fentanyl is no joke. It doesn't take but a little pin drop to kill somebody," Wade said during a follow-up interview with CBS 6 in April. "So how is it getting in?”
Still left with limited answers from the Sheriff's Office, Wade and her attorneys filed a Freedom of Information Act request to try and obtain records, footage, and other documentation that would shed light on the circumstances surrounding Carey's death.
The Sheriff's Office said it would cost $13,000 to provide the requested information, a cost estimate that Irving told CBS 6 was reasonable.
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Now, the family has taken legal action.
The lawsuit, seeking $5.3 million total in damages, alleges "Sheriff Irving and defendant Sheriff Deputies were grossly negligent and breached the applicable standards of care."
It claims that deputies:
- failed to properly monitor inmates for drug use
- failed to search cells for drugs
- failed to prevent drugs from entering the jail
- failed to staff Carey's housing unit for supervision
- failed to appropriately perform security checks
- failed to initiate life-saving measures during Carey's emergency
Further, the lawsuit contends Irving knows her jail is “dangerous” and “rampant with violence and drug use” but is “nonchalant” in addressing it.
It adds that before he died, Carey was stabbed by another inmate while he was incarcerated, "lamented the apparent indifference deputies exhibited towards inmates," and that Carey expressed his own concerns about a lack of monitoring in his pod.
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During a press conference Irving held the day of Carey's death, she said it was "difficult" for her staff to provide oversight amid staffing woes but that they were "working really, really hard to do the things that need to be done."
Irving has previously acknowledged challenges related to drug-use and staffing shortages at the jail. In an April interview with CBS 6, Irving said there were 185 deputy vacancies out of 385 total positions.
However, she has always maintained in interviews that her staff have been following protocol as it relates to security procedures.
The lawsuit, filed in Richmond Circuit Court, requests a trial by jury. On June 7, attorneys notified the court of the complaint along with initial questions and requested documents from the defendants.
CBS 6 reached out to the Sheriff's Office for comment. A spokesperson responded, "We are not aware of this, but thank you for this information. We will follow up. Have a good afternoon."
The state board that is responsible for investigating jail deaths, the Board of Local and Regional Jails, told CBS 6 that all the recent inmate deaths at the Richmond Jail are still under review.
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