CHARLESTON – A family of a Wayne County man says negligence on the part of jail medical staff led to his suicide.
Charles Watts, administrator of the estate of Johnny H. Watts, filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against PrimeCare Medical of West Virginia and the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. PrimeCare provides medical care for the state jail system. Charles Watts is the brother of Johnny Watts.
According to the complaint, Johnny Watts was incarcerated at the Western Regional Jail in Barboursville on September 11, 2020, after being arrested for DUI. He was assessed as a high suicide risk and placed on suicide watch.
diTrapano
The complaint says Watts had a history of substance abuse, prior incidents of self-injury or attempted suicide and psychosis episodes that were ignored by medical staff.
Three days later, Watts was assessed again. That assessment said to consider a step down from suicide watch despite notes of Watts saying “he didn’t have much to live for” because “him and his wife of 18 years are split up and she doesn’t want to be with him anymore.”
“Despite receiving those alarming statements from Mr. Watts, who already was considered at high risk of suicide, (social worker Kristen Golden) failed to perform a complete and appropriate mental health evaluation of Mr. Watts,” the complaint states. “Instead, Ms. Golden inexplicably discontinued the suicide watch of Mr. Watts.”
Four days later, Watts committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell, using a bedsheet attached to the top bunk bed.
The estate accuses PrimeCare of medical negligence and negligent training and supervision. It accuses the WVDCR of malicious conduct and violation of clearly established laws.
It seeks compensatory damages for Johnny Watt’s pain and suffering, the sorrow and emotional suffering of his beneficiaries as well as the loss of his emotional support, society and companionship. It also seeks punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
The estate is being represented by L. Dante diTrapano and Charles F. Bellomy of Calwell Luce diTrapano in Charleston and by William C. Forbes and W. Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-936