WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The family of a Williamsport man who died in the custody of the Lycoming County Prison filed a federal lawsuit Friday that alleged his jailors "disregarded" his worsening symptoms until it was too late.
The suit, brought on behalf of the late Chaz Donya Turner, seeks damages for claims of negligence and civil rights violations.
"Despite multiple pleas by Mr. Turner to LCP staff and prison officials to be evaluated and provided with medical care, he was consistently turned away," Philadelphia attorneys Adam Getson and Simon Haileab wrote in the lawsuit.
Turner, 33, died Jan. 15, 2022. An autopsy found he died because of COVID-19 and complications from diabetes, said Lycoming County Coroner Charles Kiessling.
Turner — who has a history of diabetes and hyperglycemia — went to a Williamsport hospital on Jan. 2, 2022 complaining of abdominal issues.
Two days later, police officers arrested him for allegedly assaulting two nurses, according to the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. By the end of Jan. 4, 2022, Turner found himself in a Lycoming County Prison cell.
By Jan. 13, 2022, Turner had become very sick. Physicians in the jail measured his blood pressure and vital signs and then discharged him back to his cell.
His condition, however, soon worsened, the lawsuit alleged. Another inmate who saw Turner urged jail officials to get him medical attention. Word reached his family, who asked the jail to transfer him to a hospital for treatment.
One jail representative hung up on Turner's mother as she pleaded for help, according to the lawsuit.
Turner did not go to a hospital until Jan. 15, 2022. By then, he lost his pulse and stopped breathing. He died within a few hours of arrival.
"By the time prison health authorities and correctional officers finally permitted Mr. Turner to be treated at an area hospital, his condition had progressed to a terminal stage," Getson and Haileab wrote.
Officials from Lycoming County have not yet responded to the lawsuit. Attempts to reach county officials for comment were not successful Sunday.
See news happening? Text our Newstip Hotline.
