Richland County sued after inmate left in cell to tend own wounds after attack

A Richland County jail inmate was forced to bandage his own stab wounds with toilet paper after he was confined to his cell following an attack, according to a lawsuit he filed against the jail and several of its officers.

Kamron Gibson Brown was stabbed seven to eight times by a federal inmate who was being detained inside of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on June 22, 2022, according to his lawsuit filed in federal court. The attack and the subsequent mistreatment is just one example of how understaffing at the Richland County jail has exposed inmates to violence and harm, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by the Strom Law Firm on May 23, alleges that Richland County and several detention center officers violated Brown’s constitutional rights through unconstitutional conditions of confinement by failing to prevent the attack or meet his basic medical and sanitary needs. The lawsuit also accuses the county and the officers of general indifference and gross negligence.

“Mr. Gibson Brown’s experience is yet another example of how the inhumane conditions at our jail create an atmosphere that endangers the lives of those it is meant to hold for safekeeping pending trial,” said Alexandra Benevento, one of Gibson Brown’s attorneys. “The situation is dire. It is our sincere hope that we can work to bring accountability and change.”

In addition to Richland County, Brown has named detention center officer Crystal Regin and Lt. Kevin McCullough as defendants. McCullough was also named as a defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Lason Butler, who died of dehydration inside of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in February 2022.

A representative from Richland County said Thursday that county officials have not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Gibson Brown was incarcerated at the Alvin S Glenn Detention Center after being arrested in November 2020. At the time, he was charged with armed robbery, first degree assault and criminal conspiracy. He ultimately pleaded guilty to the assault.

At the time of the attack, Gibson Brown was a resident of H Dorm. The lawsuit accuses Regin and an unnamed officer of opening all the cell doors in the dorm simultaneously the morning after it had been placed under lockdown following an “incident.” As all of the inmates left their cells at the same time, Gibson Brown was walking to get a breakfast tray when another inmate repeatedly stabbed him with a shank. Neither Regin nor the unnamed officer intervened and the other inmate was allowed to leave the dorm following the attack, according to the lawsuit.

As a federal inmate, Gibson Brown’s attacker never should have been housed in H dorm, according to the lawsuit.

Gibson Brown says that he was the taken to a medical unit but no staff were available to treat his wounds, which included a fractured skull and a stab wound to an artery in his arm. After being left to sit bleeding in the intake area, Gibson Brown was transported to a hospital, where he received stitches.

But Gibson Brown’s lawyers allege that stitches to his arm did more harm than good. The severed artery in Gibson Brown’s arm kept bleeding underneath the stitches, causing his arm to swell up, causing pain and numbness. Surgery was required to repair the damage, according to the lawsuit.

After five days in the hospital, Gibson Brown alleges that he was returned to Alvin S. Glenn, where he was placed in isolation. With no bandages or even washcloths, clean sheets or towels, Gibson Brown states that he resorted to wrapping his stitches and open wounds with toilet paper.

Gibson Brown was “housed in horrifyingly unsanitary conditions, all of which served to exacerbate his injuries,” Benevento said.

The lawsuit alleges that Gibson Brown brought the situation to McCullough’s attention, but he never received any supplies to care for his wounds or medication for the pain. The wound in his arm later burst open after jail staff removed the stitches too early, the lawsuit alleges.

“Despite being on notice of numerous alarming issues with safety, staffing and dangerous unsanitary conditions, the county and the detention center, through their deliberate indifference, continue to place citizens in danger,” according to Benevento.

Scrutiny of the Richland County jail has grown since Butler’s death inside of the jail in February 2022, which Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford ruled a homicide.

“We know what happened to Lason Butler, but we have about a dozen other people who have been harmed by neglect and understaffing,” said Bakari Sellers, one of Gibson Brown’s attorneys, who also represents the Butler family.

Richland County has continued to struggle with understaffing at the jail, which recently reported that roughly half of the positions for detention center officers were unfilled. The county has sought to tackle the understaffing, which has often been characterized as the root of the jail’s problems, the county has raised pay for detention center officers and increased incentives for officers to stay in their positions long-term.

The county has also begun a multi-million dollar retrofit of the jail’s doors in response to numerous incidents where inmates were able to let themselves in and out of unlocked or poorly locked cells.