YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - The estate of an Ohio inmate is suing the prison and staff after he died from a medical condition.
Carla Molina, the administrator of the estate of Kevin D. Agee Jr., filed a lawsuit against Lake Erie Correctional Institution and several individuals associated with the institution on Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Agee, a diabetic, died at 37 years old while in custody.
The defendants include CoreCivic, Inc., Corrections Corporation of America, CoreCivic of Tennessee, LLC., and several medical professionals working at the correctional facility. The complaint alleges that these parties failed to provide appropriate and constitutionally required medical care and treatment to Agee in violation of his Eighth Amendment rights.
The complaint alleges that despite evidence of infection and/or sepsis, staff didn't send Agee to an outside medical facility until it was too late.
The incident allegedly occurred at Lake Erie Correctional Institution between December 2022 and January 2023. The plaintiff asserts that employees, agents, or representatives of the institution failed to provide adequate medical care, constituting a violation of an inmate's Eighth Amendment rights. Other federal and state law claims are also being sought by the plaintiff.
"Upon admission the outside medical facility, Decedent was diagnosed with an infection and/or sepsis and provided antibiotics and other medical treatment, however, it was too late due to Defendants’ failure to provide appropriate and timely medical care, and Decedent expired on January 4, 2023," the complaint says.
It also asserts a §1983 claim against defendants for failure to properly train and/or supervise their corrections officer and medical staff, as well as for promulgating customs and policies.
Thomas D. Robenalt of the Robenalt Law Firm represents the plaintiff.