Blackwell v. McFadden
| Docket Number | Civil Action 3:22-CV-167-RJC-DCK |
| Decision Date | 24 July 2023 |
| Parties | ADRIANNA ESTHER BLACKWELL, as Administratrix of the Estate of D.W., Plaintiff, v. GARRY L. MCFADDEN, MECKLENBURG COUNTY, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, DWIGHT DWAYNE WELLER, TIFFANY PARKER WILLIAMS, AKEEM DWAYNE COMAS, HENRIETTA SAUNDERS, EDDIE M. BUFFALOE, JR., CHARLES MOORE, TAMMY GUESS, KIM COWART, SAMUEL PAGE, ANGIE WEBSTER, LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE, and PLATTE RIVER INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of North Carolina |
MEMORANDUM AND RECOMMENDATION
THIS MATTER IS BEFORE THE COURT on “Defendants Sheriff Garry McFadden, Dwight Weller, Tiffany Williams Akeem Comas, And Henrietta Saunders' Partial Motion To Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint” (Document No. 27); “Defendant Mecklenburg County's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint” (Document No. 30); and the “Motion To Dismiss By Defendants State, Buffalo, And Cowart” (Document No. 50). These motions have been referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §636(b), and are now ripe for disposition. Having carefully considered the arguments, the record, and the applicable authority, the undersigned will respectfully recommend that Document No. 27 be granted in part and denied in part, and that Document Nos. 30 and 50 be granted.
Adrianna E. Blackwell (“Plaintiff”) is the Administratrix of the Estate of D.W., her 17-year-old minor son who died while in pretrial detention on November 21, 2020, inside a juvenile detention facility operated by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff at Mecklenburg County's North Detention Center (“Jail North”). (Document No. 24, pp. 2, 6). According to the allegations contained in the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff's son - referred to as “D.W.” - endured a traumatic life. (Document No. 24, pp. 14-15). Based on prior intake histories as recorded in the North Carolina Juvenile Online Information Network (“NC-JOIN”) (a computer database by which North Carolina law enforcement agencies record and share information about juveniles), D.W. had previously been a victim of Indecent Liberties with a Minor on May 3, 2006, a victim in a matter of Assault with a Deadly Weapon on December 30, 2008, and an “Involved/Other” in a child abuse/assault matter on April 8, 2011. Id. NC-JOIN also contained information that D.W. had suffered a serious head injury as a young child and that D.W.'s father was incarcerated at the time of D.W.'s arrest in November 2020. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 101-102). NC-JOIN entries noted that D.W. suffered from anger management issues, restlessness, impulsive risk taking, and substance abuse. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 106-109).
On November 5, 2020, D.W was arrested by the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office for first degree murder, and taken to the Rockingham County Law Enforcement Center (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 136, 177). Defendant Angie Webster (“Webster”), an employee of the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office, assisted with the investigation leading to D.W.'s arrest and participated in an interview of D.W. on November 5, 2020, that lasted more than six (6) hours. (Document No. 24, p. 10). According to the Amended Complaint, an interview room surveillance camera at the Rockingham County Detention Center captured D.W. quoting lyrics from a song that referenced suicide. (Document No. 24, ¶ 143). However, the NC-JOIN system was not updated to describe D.W.'s quotation of those lyrics. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 143, 145, 171-174). Later on November 5, 2020, at the instruction of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (“DPS”), D.W. was transferred from Rockingham County to the Alexander Regional Juvenile Detention Center (“Alexander Regional”) in Alexander County. (Document No. 24, ¶ 144).
Based on two (2) initial assessments by Defendant Tammy Guess (“Guess”), on November 5 and 6, 2020, D.W. was placed on a “suicide alert” (which was recorded in NC-JOIN). (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 163-164). Following a subsequent assessment, Defendant Charles Moore (“Moore”) removed D.W. from suicide alert status on November 7, 2020. (Document No. 24, ¶ 165). However, a self-harm prevention order stated that “pencils and pens are to be removed from his room.” (Document No. 24, ¶ 167).
On November 9, 2020, after D.W. learned that Rockingham County officials had charged him with first-degree murder, he indicated to Alexander Regional employees that he felt anxious and depressed, and had difficulty sleeping. (Document No. 24, ¶ 178). On November 9 and 10, two separate Alexander Regional employees requested an additional mental health consult for D.W., and D.W.'s mental health status was listed as being outside normal limits (“ONL”). (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 177-181). However, D.W. was not returned to suicide alert status, and the November 9-10 observations were not entered into NC-JOIN. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 182-183).
Throughout D.W.'s time at Alexander Regional, Plaintiff alleges that DPS employees Moore, Guess, and Kim Cowart (“Cowart”) knew that D.W. “presented with more than one indicator associated with suicidal ideation.” (Document No. 24, ¶ 162). “Despite this knowledge, nobody from DPS ever[] recommended that D.W. be placed back on suicide alert after November 7, 2020, and D.W. was not seen by a psychiatrist to be evaluated for possible medication.” (Document No. 29, pp. 5-6) (citing Document No. 24, ¶¶ 183, 184).
D.W. remained at Alexander Regional until November 20, 2020, when he was transferred to Jail North in Mecklenburg County. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 189-190). Plaintiff alleges that personnel at Alexander Regional failed to complete a required custody transfer form, which would have included additional information about D.W.'s mental health status. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 190-191).
On November 21, 2020, D.W. was placed on suicide alert at Jail North, but not the more stringent suicide watch. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 196, 209). Plaintiff notes that “[a]s a detainee on suicide alert corrections officers were required, at least, to glance inside D.W.'s cell once every ten minutes.” (Document No. 24, p. 28). Despite being on suicide alert and notes from Alexander Regional that “D.W. was not to have bedsheets nor sharp objects,” D.W.'s Jail North cell contained: multiple furnishings (not all attached to floor or walls); a metal grate in the ceiling; bedsheets; and at least one sharp object - a writing utensil. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 213-216).
Defendant Dwight Dwayne Weller (“Weller”) was on duty at Jail North, and was responsible for conducting tours of D.W.'s pod. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 225-226). During that shift, Defendants Akeem Dwayne Comas (“Comas”) and Tiffany Parker Williams (“Williams”) were Weller's supervisors, and Defendant Henrietta Saunders (“Saunders”) was a captain. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 81, 83, 84, 87, 92, 223).
On November 21, 2020, at 1:56 pm, D.W. was found hanging in his cell from a bedsheet fastened to the metal grate in the ceiling. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 230, 237). Attempts to revive D.W. were unsuccessful and he was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3:12 pm on November 21, 2020. (Document No. 24, ¶ 249). Plaintiff alleges that D.W.'s death resulted from leaving D.W. in a cell with access to the means to commit suicide and failing to monitor D.W.'s jail cell adequately. (Document No. 24, ¶¶ 224, 288, 294-296, 300). Moreover, Plaintiff alleges that “Defendant Weller and other Mecklenburg County Defendants falsified records to make it appear that Defendant Weller had observed D.W. within the required ten-minute intervals.” (Document No. 24, ¶ 239).
Plaintiff initiated this action with the filing of a “Complaint” (Document No. 1) on April 18, 2022. “Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint” (Document No. 24) (the “Complaint”) was then filed on June 12, 2022. The Complaint includes the following claims: (1) Deliberate Indifference Under the Fourteenth Amendment - 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (2) Monell Violation - Custom & Practice in Violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause - 42 U.S.C. § 1983; (3) Wrongful Death - N.C. Gen.Stat. § 28A-18-2; (4) Survival Action for Pain and Suffering - N.C. Gen.Stat. § 28A-18-1; (5) Injury to Prisoner by Jailer - N.C. Gen.Stat. § 162-55; (6) Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act - 42 U.S.C. § 12132 and 29 U.S.C. § 794 (“VRA”); (7) North Carolina Persons with Disabilities Protection Act - N.C. Gen.Stat. § 168A-7; (8) Wrongful Death (Negligent Architectural Design) - N.C. Gen.Stat. § 28A-18-2; (9) Wrongful Death (Negligence Per Se) - N.C. Gen.Stat. § 153A-224; and (10) Action on the Bond. (Document No. 24, pp. 38-54).
“Defendants Sheriff Garry McFadden, Dwight Weller, Tiffany Williams, Akeem Comas, And Henrietta Saunders' Partial Motion To Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint” (Document No. 27) and “Defendant Mecklenburg County's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint” (Document No. 30) were filed on June 24, 2022. The “Motion To Dismiss By Defendants State, Buffalo, And Cowart” (Document No. 50) was then filed on July 27, 2022.
The pending motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for review and a recommended disposition to the Honorable Robert J. Conrad, Jr.
A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) seeks to dismiss a complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). The plaintiff has the burden of proving that subject matter jurisdiction exists. See Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac R.R. Co. v. United States, 945 F.2d 765, 768 (4th Cir. 1991). The existence of subject matter jurisdiction is a threshold issue the court must address before considering the merits of the case....
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