DETROIT (WXYZ) — The sister of a man who died after being attacked at the Wayne County Jail in July has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the sheriff’s office and county.
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday.
On July 13, 53-year-old Thomas Carr was brutally beaten less than 24 hours after he arrived at the Wayne County Jail by his cellmate, officials said. The trauma to his head was catastrophic, family was told, with multiple bones in his face fractured and his eye socket broken.
Carr died on July 20 after his family removed him from life support.
Carr was taken to the county jail to serve a misdemeanor sentence for a charge of operating while intoxicated. He was placed in a cell with Claude Lewis, who was charged with domestic violence.
Court and police records also show that Lewis had an assault conviction on his record and a lengthy history of mental health and violence.
Despite that history, Lewis was placed with a non-violent inmate, Carr.
“No person housed on a misdemeanor case in Wayne County or otherwise should ever face being beaten and tortured and killed in a cell,” Carr’s family attorney Vince Colella previously told the 7 Investigators.
Due to understaffing throughout the county jails, there was only one deputy assigned to guard the north side of the 11th floor where Lewis and Carr were housed. But that deputy was missing in action.
The lawsuit, filed by Carr's sister Virginia Adkins, alleges negligence, recklessness and violations to his fourth and fourteenth Amendment rights, among other things.
You can read the full lawsuit below:
Wrongful death lawsuit in death of Thomas Carr by WXYZ-TV Detroit on Scribd
7 Action News reached out to the county for comment and is waiting to hear back.
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