The family Terrill Thomas, an i*nmate who d*ied inside a j*ail run by vocal Trump supporter and former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, has settled a laws*uit against the county and a private health company for $6.75 million.
The award is one of the largest settlements in connection to a j*ail d*eath in the U.S., according to HuffPost.
Thomas, who s*uffered from b*ipolar d*isorder, was a*rrested April 15, 2016, after p*olice said he shot a man and opened f*ire inside a casino. He d*ied in his cell some nine days later after o*fficers at the Milwaukee j*ail c*ut off his water supply for several days.
Fellow i*nmates reportedly heard the man begging for water in the days before his d*eath.
“The amount of p*ain and s*uffering Terrill Thomas went through is really hard to comprehend, and a ton of this is captured on video,” James End, a layer with First, Albrecht & Blondis who worked on the case, told HuffPost in an interview. “The amount of suffering that Mr. Thomas went through was just tremendous, and that I think would be recognized by any person who took any time to listen to the facts of this case.”
Thomas’ family s*ued Clarke, the Milwaukee County and A*rmor C*orrectional Health Services Inc. following the d*eath, and accused the former sheriff of “knowingly” sanctioning the decision to cut off water supplies to i*nmates at the j*ail.
Citing p*rosecutors, The New York Times reports that Thomas was moved into isolation after stuffing a mattress cover in the toilet and flooding his first cell.
As p*unishment for his bad behavior, prosecutors said former j*ail lieutenant Kashka Meadors instructed former correctional o*fficer James Ramsey-Guy to shut off the water supply to Thomas’ new cell.
It was never turned back on.
Not only was the man deprived of water, but p*rosecutors said he was fed a flavorless, brick-shaped dish called “Nutraloaf,” which has been banned in some states, according to EBONY. He refused to eat food provided at the j*ail and lost nearly 30 pounds as a result. He was found d*ead in his cell April 24, 2016.
“What happened to Terrill Thomas was a form of torture,” Erik Heipt, an a*ttorney for the Thomas estate said. “He was a mentally ill man who needed help. Instead, he was deprived of life-sustaining nourishment — water.
“This is the sort of atrocity that should never happen in an American j*ail,” he added. “Ever. There’s no excuse for it.”
Thomas’ d*eath was just one in a string of fatalities (including a newborn baby) inside the Milwaukee County Jail over a span of just seven months. After Thomas’ d*eath, a 38-year-old female i*nmate and a 29-year-old male i*nmate di*ed in August and October, respectively.
The deaths and a growing number of lawsuits eventually f*orced Clarke to resign as head of the jail in September 2017.
He was tapped to serve in the Department of Homeland Security under President Donald Trump, but the gig never materialized. He later parted ways with a pro-Trump superPAC and now works with We Build the Wall, a crowdfunding group advocating for a wall along the U.S. Mexico border, HuffPost reported.
Three j*ail staffers were ch*arged in connection to Thomas’ 2016 death after jury recommended p*rosecutors charge them with felony a*buse. Meadors and Ramsey-Guy were both ch*arged with ne*glect of a resident of a pen*al faci*lity. Meadors would go on to plead no contest to a f*elony ch*arge of p*risoner a*buse and was sentenced to 60 days behind bars, while Ramsey-Guy got a 30-day sentence for a f*elony ch*arge of a*busing a resident of a pen*al fac*ility.
Jail Cmdr. Nancy Lee Evans was also ch*arged with f*elony miscon*duct and misde*meanor obstruct*ing an of*fice after p*rosecutors said she didn’t keep security footage of the guards shutting off the water supply and lied about what was in the footage. She pleaded g*uilty to felony misconduct in o*ffice earlier this year and was sentenced to nine months of what was expected to be house a*rrest.
Heipt was satisfied with the settlement and said he hopes something good will come from it.
In a statement, a*ttorneys for the Thomas estate said that, “While no amount of money will give Mr. Thomas his life back — or allow his children to spend another day with their father — it is our hope that this case sends a message to every single j*ail and p*rison in America that this type of blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”
Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke resigned from his post in 2017 following a string of inmate deaths at his jail. (Photo by Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)