OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline) - A wrongful death lawsuit blames an Oklahoma county, claiming it failed to address the needs of a woman in custody who was observed acting strangely - like laying nude on the floor motionless.
Daniel Hanchett, as the personal representative of the estate of Shannon Hanchett, filed a lawsuit Jan. 25 against the Sheriff of Cleveland County and others in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Hanchett owned the Cookie Cottage bakery in Norman but began showing signs of mental illness in 2022. She suffered an episode at an AT&T store on Nov. 26, 2022, during which she was taken into custody.
While in custody, the suit says Hanchett's condition deteriorated to the point she would be found lying nude on the floor or talking to herself. Cleveland County is blamed for not referring her to a physician or other health care providers.
"This was deliberate indifference to a serious medical and/or mental health need," the suit says.
Hanchett was placed on suicide watch on Nov. 30, 2022, but staff failed to conduct the required checks every 15 minutes, the suit says.
Ultimately, on Dec. 8, 2022, she was found unresponsive after being left alone in her cell for four hours, the suit says. She had died of heart failure and was dehydrated.
"Ms. Hanchett's death would not have occurred in the absence of her prolonged catatonia and severe dehydration," the suit says.
The defendants include Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC, Diana Myles-Henderson, LPC, Tara Doto, LPN, and Natasha Kariuki, LPN.
Daniel Smolen and other lawyers at Smolen & Roytman in Tulsa represent the plaintiff.