Mother of man who died after jail beating sues Orange County sheriff, deputies

The mother of a 34-year-old inmate who died after an assault at the Orange County jail last year has filed a lawsuit accusing Sheriff Charles Blackwood and nine staff members of creating an unsafe environment that catered to a violent inmate who kept a jail pod “running smooth.”

“Defendants’ pattern and practice of deliberate indifference to the safety of prisoners caused the assault of Maurice King on March 4, 2020,” states the lawsuit filed in federal court Monday. “Defendants’ pattern and practice of deliberate indifference to the emergency medical needs of prisoners caused (his) death.”

Blackwood and Chief Deputy Jamison Sykes, who oversees the jail, could not be reached by their cellphones Monday night.

A recent report by The News & Observer into King’s death examined security video that showed four inmates entering King’s cell, including the man accused of killing him. Inmate Tyler Grantz, 22, was later charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Search warrants identified the other inmates as Linwood Stephens, Dawan Salters and Darryl Bradford Jr.

But the video also showed two detention officers did not check on King’s cell or others in the pod during required rounds. The two officers walked by numerous cells without looking in. A state Department of Health and Human Services investigation found the officers had violated regulations requiring each inmate be checked at least twice an hour.

It wasn’t until roughly 90 minutes after the assault that detention officers discovered King was in rough shape. The lawsuit states he was “lying down, soaking wet, with visible swelling and bleeding of his left eye, complaining of shortness of breath and aches and pains throughout his body.” Blood was on the floor, walls and the inside of the door to his cell, the lawsuit states.

King’s condition should have triggered a medical emergency, with a doctor responding, the lawsuit states. But roughly 40 minutes passed before detention officers would carry King out of his cell to a wheelchair, to be taken to a jail nurse. She called for an ambulance. He later died that evening from a cardiac arrest at Duke Hospital.

Blackwood told the state Department of Health and Human Services the officers had been disciplined, but jail officials later said they hadn’t been demoted or suspended, which are required under the state’s personnel law to be reported. The DHHS accepted his plan of correction.

The lawsuit said the lack of checks, combined with the delays in providing emergency medical care contributed to King’s death.

Orange Jail King Lawsuit by Dan Kane on Scribd

Inmate in control of pod, lawsuits claims

But the lawsuit also said detention officers had ceded control of the pod to Stephen McCrimmon, an inmate the lawsuit identified as a habitual felon with a violent history, who had been a “frequent prisoner” at the jail. The lawsuit said McCrimmon had such control over other inmates that they didn’t take showers without his permission.

“Defendant Sheriff Blackwood’s detention officers routinely would give Mr. McCrimmon extra supplies and would even bring gifts into the Detention Center for Mr. McCrimmon in exchange for Mr. McCrimmon agreeing to ‘keep this pod running smooth,’” the lawsuit said.

A judge transferred McCrimmon into the pod housing King after McCrimmon had assaulted another inmate in a different pod who was being held on child sex offense charges, the lawsuit states. That inmate received a second beating by other inmates for “snitching” on McCrimmon and causing him to be moved, the lawsuit said.

King was being held on drug charges, but he had a conviction years ago for indecent liberties with a child and was on the state’s sex offender registry. The lawsuit claims that made him a target for McCrimmon and other inmates.

McCrimmon was in the common area where King and Glantz first talked before they went up to King’s cell on the pod’s top row, the lawsuit said. Salter and Stephens followed, and the video showed McCrimmon talking to Bradford before King’s door opened to show Salter and Sanders restraining someone in the cell. Bradford then quickly walked up to the cell.

After the assault, the video shows McCrimmon went up to the second floor and talked with Stephens as he stood to the left of Grantz’s cell, the lawsuit said. “Mr. Stephens then re-entered Mr. Grantz’(s) cell and spoke further with Mr. Grantz,” the lawsuit said.

Fatal assaults in NC jails

King is one of three inmates in North Carolina jails in the past two years who have died after assaults by other inmates, law enforcement records show. The other assaults took place in the Cleveland and Craven county jails. In all three cases, DHHS investigations found detention officers hadn’t properly checked on the inmates.

The Cleveland County jail death prompted a lawsuit filed earlier this year. In that case, Jeffery Todd Dunn, 37, died after being found bloody and unresponsive in a holding cell that had a window so badly cracked detention officers could not see into it.

The number of inmate deaths in North Carolina jails has risen steadily over the past several years. Last year was a new high with 49 deaths, DHHS records show, even as jails released inmates to limit the spread of COVID-19. Supervision failures are involved in roughly one third of those deaths, the DHHS records show, a systemic problem The N&O first identified in a five-part series, “Jailed to Death.”

King lived in Durham and had three children, ages 10, 13 and 15. His mother, Tiffany King, told The N&O in March that the security video shows detention officers provided little protection for inmates, especially her son.