Lawsuit Alleges Negligence and Lack of Urgent Response to Inmate’s Calls for Help

by Christine Stuart

It’s been three years since Jamari Taylor’s death at Walker Correctional Institution and his mother, Melisia, is finally getting her day in court.
Taylor was 19 when he died. His death certificate says he died from natural causes, but his mother never accepted that. 
“How does a healthy 19 year old die from natural causes?” Mrs. Taylor would ask over and over again as she poured over documents. 

“I’m just happy that at least now someone else is seeing what I’m seeing,” Taylor said Wednesday. “I knew something was not adding up.” 
The lawsuit served against the Connecticut Department of Correction and three correction officers who were on duty at the time of his death blames the state for not responding to urgent calls for help from his cellmate. 
“Employees of the Connecticut Department of Correction lollygagged their way from their posts to the cell, wasting valuable minutes with their lack of care,” Taylor’s attorney Alex Taubes writes. “As a result of this negligence and/or deliberate indifference toward Mr. Taylor, the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections officials cost him his life, or – at the very least – caused him antemortem pain and suffering before he died.” 

The Attorney General’s office declined comment due to the pending litigation. 
Taylor continued to fight and she never gave up hope. 
Taylor says her son was a student athlete in high school, loved his family, but says he fell in with the wrong crowd. Shortly after his 18th birthday he was arrested for home invasion with a firearm. He had been in Walker Correctional Institution for a month when he died.

“The hardest part for me is I may never find out what really happened in that cell, but I know they are responsible for the urgency, because if they had hurried up, Jamari would be alive today,” Taylor said in a recent interview.
“He didn’t deserve to die the way he died. He loved his family and was looking forward to coming home and that was stolen away because of DOC negligence,” Taylor said. 
Taylor, who is a nurse, believes that if they had responded sooner they might have been able to get enough oxygen to his brain and he might be alive today. The autopsy shows brain swelling due to the lack of oxygen. 

Taylor is also basing her beliefs Department of Correction video shared by the family’s attorney.  
When they entered Jamari Taylor’s cell, they moved him to the floor and began performing CPR for approximately six minutes. They then took him to an ambulance. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“What were his last words? Was it mommy? Was it daddy? Was it help me?” Taylor asked. 

The DOC issued a response shortly after the incident, which read: 
“Any loss of life is heart-wrenching and we extend our deepest sympathies to all of those were impacted by the loss of Mr. Taylor. The Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Department of Correction completed separate, independent investigations into the tragic death of Mr. Taylor. Our investigation found no information which would contradict the Medical Examiner’s findings that Mr. Taylor died of natural causes. There was no negligence or misconduct by the employees involved in this incident. The Connecticut State Police have not filed any criminal charges related to this incident.” 
The internal DOC investigation found “opportunities for improvement,” but said professional standards were followed in responding to the medical emergency.

“I feel like the state wants to sweep this under the rug. I know Jamari’s not the first kid who has ever died in jail and we don’t hear about it,” Taylor said. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.”