The mother of a man who died in custody at the St. Louis City Justice Center has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against corrections staff, nurses, the city and a corrections-focused health care provider.
Anita Washington filed the suit on Wednesday. The lawsuit gives an account of the July 19 events that led up to Samuel Hayes Jr.’s death after an altercation between Hayes and another detainee.
The suit lists three counts:
Count 1: Wrongful death suit against corrections and supervising officers
The lawsuit argues that corrections officers were aware that Hayes wasn’t well when he was handcuffed and removed from his cell and that an employee said Hayes was “falling every chance he could.”
Jail and city officials said last month that Hayes, who was facing first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges, was unresponsive after the altercation and didn’t respond to verbal commands. He fell to the ground when jail workers opened his cell door. The family’s attorney, Jack Waldron, who was also shown security footage video, said Hayes was then strapped to a restraint chair that wasn’t in clear view of security cameras.
The suit says a couple of nurses briefly tended to Hayes and then left him unattended while he convulsed and cried out for about 20 minutes. When a worker arrived an hour and a half later, Hayes had stopped moving and was taken to St. Louis University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Lawyers for Hayes’ family said corrections officers failed to follow appropriate city medical policies when restraining Hayes in the chair and did not provide adequate medical care or check-ins when he was restrained.
“Correctional Defendants breached their duty of care to Samuel,” the lawsuit states.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety could not be reached for comment.
Mitch McCoy, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson, said that the case file will be submitted to the circuit attorney’s office for review, and that the department’s only role is to conduct the criminal investigation, not the internal review.
Count 2: Wrongful death suit and medical malpractice allegations against the health care provider and nurses
The second count argues that Physician Correctional USA, the city jail health care provider, committed medical malpractice in restraining Hayes and failing to follow proper medical procedures.
Lawyers argue that two nurses did not provide medical checks on Hayes prior to his restraint and didn’t perform regular check-ins once he was placed in the chair.
But the suit goes further and questions the health care provider’s past. The city signed a contract with Physician Correctional USA in late 2023 following a string of detainee deaths over several months.
Waldron said the city is paying the company almost $10 million a year to provide medical coverage at the jail. He said the company has been a source of controversy, including in Puerto Rico.
“In Puerto Rico, there are a variety of lawsuits related to the quality of their medical care, and one that even relates to a person who is having a medical emergency and who was left and ended up dead,” Waldron said. “They lost their contract in Puerto Rico in the last couple of months.”
Emails sent to the address listed on Physician Correctional USA were undeliverable, and calls to the organization went to voicemail.
Count 3: Sunshine Law violations against St. Louis
Waldron said the family filed a public records request with the city related to Hayes’ death.
While some of the records aren’t available due to the ongoing investigation by the police department’s Force Investigation Unit, he said other documents that the family knows exist haven’t been shared.
“Sam's family is entitled to those records under the law, under the Missouri Sunshine Law,” Waldron said. “The city denied our request, and when we sent a follow-up showing them the law and why they were wrong, we received absolutely no response.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Cara Spencer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Waldron said police showed him and Hayes’ family security camera video a couple of days after Hayes' death, but they weren't able to keep the video or take notes.
Waldron said the video is the most important record they’re seeking so that they can identify the individual defendants. He said there could also be video from other angles that hasn’t been seen yet.
“We don't know who the people are who were there strapping Sam into the chair and the people who abandoned him,” Waldron said. “So we're at a real disadvantage for the family.”
