Family’s lawsuit details policies they say led to Whatcom County jail suicide
The family of a man who killed himself while incarcerated in the Whatcom County Jail in June 2018 filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging that the policies put in place at the jail contributed to the man’s preventable death.
Kirk Daniel Powless died June 4, 2018, after he made a noose out of his shirt, jammed it into his cell door and hanged himself. Powless was 38 and had three children.
The lawsuit, filed July 20 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, names Whatcom County, Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Corrections Wendy Jones, sheriff’s deputy Violet Ignashova and other employees of the county to be named at a later date, according to federal court records.
The lawsuit alleges Whatcom County is negligent for failing to care for and prevent foreseeable medical harm to inmates in its custody, follow proper policies for people with medical needs, to adequately treat Powless while he was detoxing, to ensure proper staffing levels and conduct cell checks in a safe and consistent manner and that the county violated his 14th Amendment rights to provide humane confinement conditions and receive adequate medical care.
Powless’ mother and Powless’ three children are seeking general, special and punitive damages for pain, suffering, terror and loss of familial relations, the court records show.
Powless’ family states they have suffered extreme grief and mental and emotional distress as a result of Powless’ death and the county’s deliberate indifference for Powless’ life, court records state.
Powless “died a terrible and easily preventable death. He suffered pre-death pain, anxiety, and terror, before leaving behind a loving family,” the lawsuit states.
Whatcom County has yet to respond to the lawsuit, according to the court records.
Powless’ death
Powless was arrested by Bellingham police on May 30, 2018, on suspicion of identity theft, second-degree possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance. Powless had a substance that tested positive for heroin in his pocket, and admitted to the arresting officer that he was a daily heroin user, according to court records. The lawsuit alleges Whatcom County and jail staff knew this because of previous interactions with Powless going back to February 2016.
The lawsuit alleges that Powless was given a health screening, performed by a non-medically trained jail deputy, and that despite knowing he was a daily heroin user who was allegedly arrested with the drug on him, they did not institute a detoxification protocol for Powless. At the time, it was jail policy to deny medication-assisted treatment for people who were detoxing from opioid use.
Days after Powless’ death, a separate, unrelated federal civil rights lawsuit was filed against the county and jail over the policy. The jail now has several policies providing medication-assisted treatment for opioid withdrawal, maintenance and treating substance use disorder.
Powless was housed on the second floor in a cell by himself. Deputy Ignashova was assigned as the floor deputy for the second floor on June 4, 2018. The floor deputy is responsible for oversight, management and security of the entire second floor, the lawsuit states. Around 8 a.m. that morning, Ignashova allegedly told Powless to take medication, but he responded he didn’t take any medication and didn’t want any, according to the lawsuit.
Two hours later, around 10 a.m., Powless hanged himself. Because Ignashova did not perform a single safety check during her shift, Powless was not discovered until shortly before 11 a.m., the lawsuit states.
A series of faulty policies and issues at the jail contributed to Powless’ death, the lawsuit alleges.
An inmate walking by Powless’ cell found him and alerted Ignashova who walked over to see what was happening. Other inmates attempted to get Powless down during this time, the court records state.
According to the lawsuit, when cell doors in the jail are open and then subsequently closed, they lock and are only able to be unlocked remotely by jail control. Ignashova told the other inmates to “lock down” in their cells while she went to jail control after being alerted to Powless’ suicide. When she got there, Powless’ door wouldn’t unlock and was stuck. The lawsuit alleges the issue with sticking doors has contributed to the suicide death of at least one other inmate. The county has since started a multi-million dollar project to repair the jail doors.
The Whatcom County Medical Examiner ruled Powless’ death a suicide and said that toxicology reports “revealed ‘methamphetamine and unconfirmed opiate’ in (Powless’) blood to be ‘troubling,’” the lawsuit states.
In addition to the issue with the jail doors, the jail also has inadequate space to provide confidential medical assessments and treatment. During the booking process, inmates answer confidential medical questions over a speakerphone, allowing anyone nearby to hear. This makes inmates less inclined to share medical issues, leading to delays and insufficient treatment, the lawsuit states.
The jail also has issues with overcrowding and understaffing, often requiring deputies to multitask or not conduct routine tasks, such as security checks, according to the lawsuit. Jail policies have remained static for years, and had reviews of other inmate deaths been conducted and policy changes been enacted, Powless’ death could have been prevented, the lawsuit states.
Resources
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
▪ Phone: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
▪ Online: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
