Lawsuit claims woman was neglected, mistreated before taking her life at LMDC

By Matthew Keck

Click here for updates on this story

    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — For the second time this week, we’re learning about a lawsuit being filed against Louisville Metro Department of Corrections in regards to an inmate’s suicide.

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a woman who died at LMDC in 2021.

The son of Stephanie Dunbar, Dairlwen, filed the lawsuit this week after his mother died by suicide while incarcerated at LMDC on Dec. 4, 2021.

The suit names then jail director Dwayne Clark, assistant director Steve Durham, chief of staff Eric Troutman, deputy director Martin Baker, 11 LMDC officers and the jail’s medical provider.

Dunbar was booked into LMDC on Nov. 30, 2021, and the lawsuit describes her time at the jail as less than pleasant.

During her time at the jail, it claims that she was confined to an attorney booth and did not have access to running water, a toilet or a bed for an extended period.

Dunbar apparently soiled herself while she was in the attorney booth, as a result of not having access to a toilet or washbasin for more than 18 hours.

And while she was in the attorney booth, there was allegedly no plan for monitoring her and other inmates in the temporary housing.

It says that while she was being held at the jail, the staff who interacted with her failed to make themselves aware of her mental health and medical needs. At one point, a staff member was seen on video giving Dunbar the middle finger, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit goes on to say that Dunbar was not looked over in person and went unsupervised for several hours at a time. It states that inmates in the detox protocol at LMDC are supposed to be checked on every 20 minutes, if not more frequently.

Staff admitted that Dunbar didn’t receive extra observation, according to the lawsuit.

Not only that, but the lawsuit says that officers forged entries in her observation log during her death investigation. It claims that surveillance video backs up this claim.

There was also a moment when an officer named in the lawsuit witnessed Dunbar holding a pair of pants towards a ceiling vent and failed to alert staff or take the pants away from her.

Other contributing factors were then-director Dwayne Clark, Eric Troutman and Martin Baker were allegedly aware of this negligence by staff and didn’t address it properly.

The lawsuit says that since May 2021 that 13 people have died while incarcerated at the jail. And not only have these inmates died, but the suit says proper investigations into each death as they occurred.

One of the reported deaths was not actually investigated, although a report from LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit recommended so, allegedly. The investigation only happened after a news reporter made an open records request and LMDC staff realized its error. This was reportedly four months after the death of that inmate.

Wellpath, the jail’s medical provider, is named in the suit due to its apparent failure to identify inmates with mental concerns or needs, along with not having enough staff at the jail that was required.

LMDC’s lack of training was another factor cited in the lawsuit, saying that the jail had not offered staff in-service training in-person since 2019.

It also touched on the working conditions for LMDC staff, stating that information revealed workers made complaints about burnout from working 16-18 hour shifts on consecutive days.

LMDC FOP president Daniel Johnson was quoted in the lawsuit discussing the staffing issues at the jail. It says he said that officers were overworked and often were required to do tasks that “normally require three or four officers.”

While Dunbar was in custody, the lawsuit claims that LMDC had more than 100 “sworn-staff” vacancies.

All of these were factors that ultimately led to Dunbar’s death, claims the lawsuit.

Defendants in the lawsuit are facing counts of negligence, negligence per se, wrongful death, violation of the eighth and 14th amendments, and failure to properly train officers.

On Wednesday, another lawsuit was filed against jail staff and the city of Louisville for another inmate who died not long after Dunbar. This was another of the four deaths that occurred at LMDC in December 2021.

LMDC has been under investigation by the FBI since March of last year. In an update given by FBI agent David Byers last October, he said the facility itself was “woefully inadequate.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.