Family of woman who died in Snohomish County Jail files $10 million claim
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) - The family of a woman who died in the Snohomish County Jail has filed a $10 million wrongful death claim.
The claim says complacency by guards and medical staff resulted in the November 2011 death of 27-year-old Lyndsey Elizabeth Lason who had been arrested for investigation of theft and prostitution.
The Daily Herald reports Lason complained of trouble breathing for more than a week, and other inmates poked fun at her for the "eke, eke, eke" sounds she made when trying to inhale. She died of a pulmonary infection that filled her chest with pus.
"For whatever reason, she got infected and the infection was crushing her lungs," said attorney Royce Ferguson. "She literally suffocated to death over a period of 8 days, maybe 10 days."
According to the wrongful death claim filed against Snohomish County and the cities of Everett and Des Moines, Lason's breathing was noticeably labored.
Lason's cousin, Jennifer Taylor, said Lason repeatedly asked to go to the hospital and specifically asked for a chest x-ray.
"There were several requests and ongoing cries for help. They were ignored," Taylor said.
"This was complete egregious indifference to someone's calls for help. She would push the button, 'Help me, help me, help me,' and they would yell at her, 'Quit pushing the emergency button,' " Ferguson said.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, Shari Ireton, says it can't comment on an active claim.
There have been seven deaths at the jail in Everett since 2010.
The claim says complacency by guards and medical staff resulted in the November 2011 death of 27-year-old Lyndsey Elizabeth Lason who had been arrested for investigation of theft and prostitution.
The Daily Herald reports Lason complained of trouble breathing for more than a week, and other inmates poked fun at her for the "eke, eke, eke" sounds she made when trying to inhale. She died of a pulmonary infection that filled her chest with pus.
"For whatever reason, she got infected and the infection was crushing her lungs," said attorney Royce Ferguson. "She literally suffocated to death over a period of 8 days, maybe 10 days."
According to the wrongful death claim filed against Snohomish County and the cities of Everett and Des Moines, Lason's breathing was noticeably labored.
Lason's cousin, Jennifer Taylor, said Lason repeatedly asked to go to the hospital and specifically asked for a chest x-ray.
"There were several requests and ongoing cries for help. They were ignored," Taylor said.
"This was complete egregious indifference to someone's calls for help. She would push the button, 'Help me, help me, help me,' and they would yell at her, 'Quit pushing the emergency button,' " Ferguson said.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, Shari Ireton, says it can't comment on an active claim.
There have been seven deaths at the jail in Everett since 2010.
The people here blaming the victim must have forgotten about Michael Saffioti who turned himself in on marijuana charges and later died because his allergic reaction was ignored by staff. The staff knew about his allergies, and did nothing when he was clearly dying.Â
I dont know if this is Everett, but its Snohomish County Jail, so the county is responsible for the jail. Citizens have to ask themselves if this is the kind of thing we want to happen and what we are doing to stop these things from happening. Its too late for Michael and Lyndsey, but others can be saved.
Evidently she had a broken rib piercing a lung from a fall from her bed in jail.Other inmates said she begged for medical help as her chest filled with puss and fluid. Inmates said she was white as a ghost.Only after days with no help, sleep or emergency attention she said she was drug sick to try and get help only to be reprimended and thrown in the hole.A policeman who was in charge of transporting prisoners was shocked at the lack of concern by jail staff.This case defys common decency and extremely shameful for Snohomish County Goverment.
My condolences to the family, get another attorney, this guy got his license from a cracker jack box.
How many people have died in the Snohomish jail now?
Since no amount of money can replace a human life why not take these people to court and get the responsible person/people fired. Seems to me like with 10 deaths big payouts are not the answer. If these people know they will loose their jobs that would probably have a bigger impact towards change than having the government just pay out more money and life goes on as usual. Personal responsibility isn't taught if someone else pays the consequences.
This is completely inexcusable. Everett should have to pay every penny of the $10 mil. It is not acceptable for law enforcement to lock citizens up and then watch them die. Seven people have died in this jail since 2010? That boggles the mind.
@kenbug Clearly a lot of civil rights violations going on in Everett. If the mayor doesn't want to do his job force him out of office and fine someone who will. And start taxing Boeing more up there to help funding to fix the problem.
@Blindman What does Boeing have to do with the incompetents that run Snoho Jail?
If you insist on putting your life into the hands of DOC / county jail employees who are understaffed and underpaid then you will suffer the consequences ... and yes I have had some experience (not me but someone I used to be involved with) that had medical issues and didn't fair too well in county custody. I had no sympathy for him because he chose to live that lifestyle. Looks to me like her family is looking to get paid and I hope they are unsuccessful.
@izwideopen thats the problem is people like you who only believe people deserve what they get. i dont believe that, i think they didnt deserve to die, there is a clear violation here of the constitution, both of these cases their constitutional rights were ignored, cruel and unusual punishment. i hope they do win their cases, might bring some much needed attention to callous mindset of individuals, inside and outside the justice system.
@izwideopen Wow.  So a person that gets arrested deserves to die in custody?  Your lack of compassion is scary.  I hope you don't have children.
Ah indeed. That close loving family that lost their beloved daughter/sister are so grieving and outraged. In reality they are probably estranged and see this entire event as a free lottery ticket. A life of prostitution goes along with drug and/or alcohol use...yup, I'm sure that had nothing to do with it.Â
Sad for the inmate as she had some obvious issues in her life, but now we see the family feed on the remains.
@burmesepythondude yeah i dont agree with this. doesnt matter if they had a thousand relatives or none. the character of their relatives has no bearing on the treatment they did and didnt get. it doesnt justify what happened to Lason and others like Michael Saffiotti who died at the jail when their deaths could have been completely avoided.
you cannot justify a preventable death, no matter how hard you try. that is a societal cop out.
@burmesepythondude Lots of assumptions you make there.  How would you feel if it were your relative? Â
Sadly, I agree with you. If they cared enough to participate in visitation, SOMEONE could have pushed for her welfare if her own complaints were falling on deaf ears. They didn't care enough while she was alive. Now that she's dead, they have visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads.
Nail them! I'm sick of hearing the cases about people dieing in jail because of no medical treatment, it's not right and I hope the city of Everett get their butts sued good. Judge, approve the $10 million lawsuit!!! Nobody has the right to deny someone else medical attention if they need it, whether they are a criminal, in jail or not. These stupid jail workers don't care about people at all and are "letting inmates die," that makes them just as guilty as going into their cell and physically killing them. People go to jail for various crimes, not all bad- loitering (oh my god hanging around a business for too long... my god, trespassing, lieing to police, a petty pot charge,) and various others. I hope this family wins big in court!
@keepthepeace28Â I had a friend who was jailed overnight in the Snohomish county jail (bogus charge) and even though his family brought his meds, the jail staff (or is it "staph"?) never got them to him. Total incompetence!
Her lifestyle most probably caused the death and she just happened to be in custody when it finally took her out. As a Snohomish citizen, I'd like to tell that family to let their dead relative stop burdening society at this point and a big F you for trying to bilk our city funds!!
@SoTweetie You should be p!ssed that your city funds are paying incompetents to run the jail.
Ah the grieving family lottery. Amazing how much someone's life is worth when there is someone to sue. If she was truly worth 10 million dollars alive, why didn't her family actually help her THEN? Â
@DT callous disregard for human life. maybe you should go work in the jail too.
@DT We will see how you feel if a family member of yours comes up short...
I have trouble understanding how someone could miss respiratory distress for a week. Especially as it got bad enough to be audible. This would mean that several guards (shift changes) would have had to ignore both her complaints of pain and an audible sound of breathing issues ... there seems to be some sort of problem up there with people who have genuine medical issues being ignored. (The guy who died after being served food he was allergic to comes to mind). I hope there is some investigation and some changes made to avoid these kinds of issues. People shouldn't die in jail due to inattention.Â
I completely understand the civil justice system;Â the only way to punish someone civilly is by monetary damages. With that said, you have to justify those damages. Therefore, I wonder if her life was worth 10 million (i.e. would she have made 10 million in her lifetime) or is her family is just trying to cash in on her death. By the sounds of her life thus far, she probably would have ended up in jail for the majority of it.
@Bianca Its not so much about physical damage as it is civil rights violations. What are your civil rights worth? I place a pretty high value on them, I don't think $10 million is enough. In cases like this the claims should be for high enough to change the attitude of the offenders to place a higher value on doing their jobs. Just seems to be a culture of corruption in Everett just like there is in the SPD. Time to clean out the rats nest.
@Blindman @Bianca i dont know if its Everett since Snohomish county may run the jail. how this person lived their life isnt the issue, its a civil rights issue.
@Bianca Nicely said....Â
Looks like Everett has a serious management problem. They should be sued for a lot more than $10 million on this one. When suspects are incarcerated the jail takes responsibility for their safety and health. They failed to even supply any basic level of health care for the prisoners. Sue them till they go bankrupt. If they can't do their job we don't need them.Â
@Blindman who will pay is the question. there also has to be a system of accountability.
Sounds like the little boy that cried wolf. You fake it and abuse the system too often, people begin to not believe you. You say you have a problem, then say no, I'm really not, how are the correctional officers supposed to know when you mean it and when you're faking to get out of jail free? Too bad she apparently never had to take any responsibility for her actions. I feel badly for the family, but certainly not 10 million worth. Maybe 10 thousand tops.Â
The crummy thing is that many inmates abuse the "I'm sick" thing so guards don't believe it when people are actually sick. This sounds like an extreme case, however, as a pulmonary infection that makes noise is pretty obviously not being faked. It may be one instance where the family has a valid case to sue. Being cause stealing and hooking shouldn't warrant a death sentence.
@dg54321 innocent people die as we have seen. if inmates abuse the 'im sick' thing then extend their jail time if they are faking it. solutions must be found so that more people are not dying in the justice process.
What's the total taxpayer payout for the past five years of incompetence from L.E.O's and D.O.C failures? Humm...
Wonder what kind of insurance she had.
@eddierandom One of the benefits to being incarcerated is free health care which she was denied till she died.  I dont want to put a value on her life so is $10 Million fair? Unfortunately, the employees of the Snohomish County Jail cant be held PERSONALLY responsible. Maybe they would care more.
@scared_citizen If you have ever done time.... It's the WWF mentality smash beer cans over the head Billy Bob stick pokers in charge... Don't go to jail or prison if you HATE redneck types. Their brains are the size of a pea that's if they're fortunate to have a pea for a brain...
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@the unvarnished truth @eddierandom There is a multi-billion dollar business opportunity here: No Intelligence Required Keyboards for Non-Thinkers.
Just five large, fist-shaped keys labeledÂ
Blame Obama!
Blame Bush!
Probably Illegals!
Time to Ban Whatever The Subject of This Article (that I didn't bother to read)!
Duh, Darwin Award! (if only they'd died so it would even qualify)
Additional options include drool-proofing, reversible lefty-righty fist keys and automatic caps lock for added screech factor.
@MargeGunderson I prefer boxing gloves installed on my keyboard... :D)
I wonder what the national average for jail deaths is for this population size? Seems seven deaths in 3 plus years might be rather high.
@Windowseat  I thought the same.Â
OK this does seems like negligence based on the story above. Every death is one too many. That being said, how does seven deaths in a little over two years compare with the average jail?Â
Try to stay out of jail...the health care there can be spotty.
Next.
@PilonidalCyst its kinda hard to realize that if your dead. if we can support anchor babies and welfare scammers we can afford to give a dying person some antibiotics or antihistamines.Â