Winnebago County To Pay $400K To Settle Lawsuit Over In-Custody Suicide At Jail

From Kevin Haas’s article in the Rock River Current

ROCKFORD — Winnebago County Board members voted Thursday to pay $400,000 to settle a lawsuit with the family of a man who died by suicide while he was held in the county jail.

The lawsuit alleged that 19-year-old Justin Matthews had voiced suicidal thoughts multiple times after he was booked into the Winnebago County Jail and was not given proper oversight. Then, before 5:15 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2018, he threaded a thermal shirt through a shelf inside his cell and hanged himself, according to an amended civil complaint.

The lawsuit was filed Jan. 11, 2019, by Chicago-based Sandberg Law Office on behalf of Beverly Lundeen, Matthews’ grandmother, and Matthew Emigholz, co-administrator of his estate.

The board voted 15-1 to approve the settlement, which was recommended by the board’s outside legal counsel. County Board member Aaron Booker voted against the measure. Four board members were absent.

According to court documents, Matthews’ mother and father, RaeAnn and James Matthews, and brother Brandon Matthews will each receive $79,559. Sandberg Law will receive $160,000 in attorney’s fees and a cost reimbursement of $1,320.

Matthews was booked into the jail on Aug. 24, 2017, and held on murder charges in the stabbing death of Brian Abbott of Racine, Wisconsin. Court documents said the sheriff’s department failed to provide proper suicide prevention. The department accepts no liability nor admits any wrongdoing in the settlement.

The jail has recently bolstered its mental health services with the help of roughly $2.2 million in mental health sales tax dollars. The money has been used to hire more mental health specialists and add mental health services, including suicide risk assessment and prevention services. The money was also used to add cameras to the facility to create more suicide watch holding cells.

Click here to read the full article on the Rock River Current website.