The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and its staff members have filed a settlement out of court with the family of an inmate who died at the Morgan County Jail in April 2022.
Julie Downs, acting as executor to the estate of her son, Brian C. Downs, filed a federal lawsuit in March 2023 in the Central District Court of Illinois. The lawsuit contended that Downs’ death at the jail was a result of a denial of civil rights by accusing members of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and its correctional officers of willful and wanton conduct, institutional negligence, and medical malpractice.
The 40-year old Downs was arrested by Jacksonville Police in the 200 block of East Morton Avenue near J.B. Hawks on the afternoon of April 22, 2022 on charges of possession of a controlled substance and resisting or obstructing a peace officer. According to the police report, the manager of J.B. Hawks had reported finding a used syringe in the restroom and called police. Downs and some of his friends were reported to have been video gambling. According to online court records, Downs had at least criminal felony drug cases filed in Morgan County Court dating back to 2014 at the time of his initial arrest.
According to the lawsuit, at the time of his arrest Downs “behavior was erratic and he was disoriented.” Officers recognized that he was having severe heroin withdrawal and he was taken to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital, where a blood test showed the presence of heroin in his system, according to the lawsuit. Downs was given Ativan, an anti-anxiety medication, and “discharged per the order of correctional officers, despite the fact that this was against medical advice,” per the lawsuit.
Downs was placed in a medical holding cell with a surveillance camera when he was returned to the Morgan County Jail. Julie Downs’ lawyer in the lawsuit, Richard Frazier, says that JMH professionals instructed correctional officers who had Downs in custody to return him to the emergency room if his confusion increased or his vomiting became more persistent. By the next afternoon April 23, 2022; Downs’ condition had worsened and he began to persistently vomit, including vomiting blood. The lawsuit documents say that during a period of 34 hours Downs vomited over 100 times and at no point did an employee of the jail notify a medical professional nor was Downs returned to JMH’s emergency room.
A nurse examined him midday April 24. He was prescribed Zofran to prevent nausea and vomiting, Bentyl to treat abdominal pain and spasms, the antihistamine Vistaril and a glass of water. Records do not reflect that Brian received any further medication, according to the complaint. Frazier contends that someone instructed jail employees on two different shifts not to give Downs any further medical care.
According to an Illinois Times report, shortly after midnight on April 25, 2022, Brian collapsed in the jail’s booking area. Jailers helped him to his feet and transferred him into a wheelchair. Ten minutes later, a Morgan County sheriff’s deputy asked guards why Brian wasn’t receiving medical care, according to the lawsuit. The deputy then was preparing to take Downs to the hospital in his patrol car, but before he could do it, Downs went into cardiac arrest and died on the floor of the jail. Downs’ body was then transferred to JMH.
An autopsy later determined that he had died from dehydration and septic shock as a result of a bowel obstruction resulting from small bowel intussusception amid opioid withdrawal syndrome.
The good faith lawsuit settled filed on Wednesday in federal court would release liability of all Morgan County officials and employees involved in the incident for a sum of $6 million. According to the settlement documents, the settlement is not an admission of fault or wrongdoing but “merely to avoid the expenses and burden of further litigation in this matter.”
The settlement does not include representatives of Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc. (ACH) or Memorial Area Hospital Association, both named as defendants in the lawsuit. The suit contends to move forward on the grounds of wrongful death. ACH is one of the nation’s largest correctional healthcare contractors.
Discovery of evidence and documentation are due to be submitted pretrial to the federal court for the proceeding lawsuit in January 2026.
Responses to the settlement agreement are expected to be given in Springfield federal court on December 11th.