TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A man was paired with a dangerous cellmate for the amusement of Florida prison guards, a lawsuit alleges, leading to his violent and disturbing death.
A lawsuit was filed April 23 in Leon County Circuit Court by Kaytrina Humphrey-Williams, individually and as the personal representative of Dennis E. Williams Jr. against the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC), Sergeant Zakkary Hoffman, Officer Cortney Hickox, and two unidentified officers.
The plaintiffs allege wrongful death and violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution.
Williams Jr. was a prisoner under FDC's custody at Columbia Correctional Institution at the time of his death. He was suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Prison guards knew of the violent tendencies of Jaquaon Polk, the suit says, claiming he attacked at least three other cellmates at Columbia, in addition to being found naked in his cell laughing to himself.
He was not to be placed in a cell with others, the suit says. But on May 22, 2022, officers placed him with a cellmate allegedly so he would start a fight.
"They did so for sadistic and malicious purpose and not for penological reason," the suit says.
They told the inmate to be ready to "fight for your life," another inmate testified. They tried and failed to place Polk with two inmates who refused to submit to hand restraints.
But Williams wasn't as lucky, the suit says. The unknown officers ignored the beating taking place in Williams and Polk's cell, the suit says. Hoffman and Hickox would walk by the cell in the early hours of May 23, 2012, but did not help.
Despite Williams' plea for a psych emergency, the two put him back in the cell, where he continued to be attacked, the suit says.
"Eventually, there came a disquieting silence," the suit says. "Inmates observed Mr. Polk take Mr. Williams Jr. to the ground and drag his body aside.
"Mr. Polk then began to sexually assault and mutilate Mr. Williams Jr.'s body."
The suit says Williams Jr. was unresponsive with his shorts and boxers pulled to his ankles while Polk bit his penis. Polk was charged for the alleged incident and pleaded not guilty.
Williams Jr. died from a ruptured dissecting aorta, and the complaint disagrees with the medical examiner's ruling that his death was natural.
James Slater and Elizabeth Buchanan, both of Tallahassee, represent the plaintiffs.