County inmate's death blamed on COVID, bad in-jail medical care in state lawsuit
BRIDGETON — The death of a man who allegedly contracted COVID-19 while held in Cumberland County Jail is now the subject of a state lawsuit against the county, former and current jail administrators, as well as the company and its employees hired to provide medical services.
A lawsuit filed March 13 for the estate of Johanan Evans claims he did not receive adequate medical attention. It alleges a continuous series of complaints Evans made, from chronic shortness of breath, headaches, chest pains, to numbness.
Evans, who was 60, was in the jail here in February and March 2021 pending trial when he was reportedly infected.
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His death took place on April 9, 2021 at Inspira Medical Center in Vineland. The death resulted from “complications including but not limited to multiorgan failure and superimposed bacterial pneumonia,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges Evans actually was sent twice to a hospital in a short space of time.
The first hospital visit was on March 19, 2021 for monoclonal anti-body treatment, the treatment coming one day after Evans tested positive for the coronavirus. But Evans was back in the jail that same day.
However, the lawsuit alleges that on returning to jail Evans reported “shortness of breath, rapid breathing and weakness.” Returned then to the hospital, the lawsuit states X-rays “revealed extensive multifocal pneumonia.”
The lawsuit said Evans also had multiple, pre-existing, serious medical conditions about which that the jail and medical staff should have known
The lawsuit was filed by his daughter, Torshika Gaye, in Cumberland County Superior Court. Her attorney, Oliver Barry, had no comment.
County government had no comment.
The defendants, besides the county, are former Warden Charles Warren and Capt. Loren Joynes. CFG Health Systems LLC of Marlton also is a defendant, along with one of its doctors and five nurses.
A specific damages payment is not requested, but regular and punitive damages are sought as well as counsel fees and court costs.
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey more than 30 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: County inmate's death brings lawsuit against jail, medical company
