EAST ST. LOUIS - An inmate at the Lawrence Correctional Center allegedly hanged himself in a segregation cell during a hunger strike in response to a disciplinary investigation.
Milton Houston, on behalf of the estate of Fredrick Houston, filed a complaint on Jan. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against correctional officers Joseph Aumiller and West.
According to the lawsuit, Fredrick Houston was housed alone in a cell Segregation B upper wing at Lawrence Correctional Center on Jan. 25, 2020. The suit states that Houston was in severe distress and started a hunger strike the day before he was put in the segregation wing. He was allegedly upset about a disciplinary investigation.
The suit states that Fredrick Houston repeatedly called out from his cell door for a crisis team, which is a group of mental health professionals assigned to the facility. The defendants allegedly did not respond to the decedent's request for a crisis team. The complaint also alleges Aumiller did not perform half hour cell checks on Fredrick Houston, as required by IDOC administrative standards.
Sometime before 7:50 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2020, Fredrick Houston used a torn bed sheet to hang himself from a light fixture in his cell. Aumiller arrived at the decedent's cell around 7:50 p.m. to serve him a disciplinary ticket and discovered him hanging from the light fixture, unresponsive.
A search of Fredrick Houston's cell revealed no contraband, and a subsequent toxicology reports were negative for drugs and alcohol.
Milton Houston seeks a judgment against the defendants, plus compensatory and punitive damages, attorney's fees and court costs. Houston is represented by Daniel P. Kiss of Meyer & Kiss in Chicago.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:22-cv-00142