LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) -- The family of a Louisville woman who hanged herself in Metro Corrections has filed a federal lawsuit against the jail and staffers claiming she was left unsupervised for several hours and locked in a small "attorney booth."
Stephanie Dunbar was booked into the jail on Nov. 20, 2021 and died on Dec. 4.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court, claims staffers should have been aware of Dunbar's mental health and medical needs but instead left her unchecked for hours in an unventilated room without water, a toilet or bed.
Inmates like Dunbar are required to be checked on every 20 minutes, according to the lawsuit.
She was locked in the attorney booth for more than 18 hours without access to a toilet and ultimately hanged herself in her soiled underwear, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit, citing an internal investigation, alleges that one of the officers gave Dunbar the finger as she pleaded for help and another ignored her when she was seen standing on a bench holding a pair of pants up towards a ceiling vent.
The lawsuit also alleges several officers did not follow the jail's observation policies for detoxing inmates.
And officers forged entries in the observation log, "documenting observations" that did not happen, the suit claims.
"The events surrounding the isolation of Stephanie Dunbar inside of a temporary holding area shows a complete breakdown of the system within the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, from the sworn officers on the jail floors to the Director of the LMPC," an LMPD investigator concluded, according to a summary of the investigation.
The Jefferson County Attorney's office declined to charge any of the officers involved, according to records obtained by WDRB.
The investigation of Dunbar's death was first reported by LEO Weekly.
The lawsuit was originally filed in Jefferson Circuit Court in March 2022 before being moved to federal court.
LEO reported that several officers were disciplined after the internal investigation found that eight LMDC officers violated the department's observation policy by failing to follow proper protocol for detox inmates.
Two of those officers were also found to have forged observation sheets, labeling parts of the jail "all secure" at times when they were elsewhere in the facility, according to LEO. And the officer who gave Dunbar the middle finger was found to have violated LMDC’s code of conduct and code of ethics.
A spokesman for Metro Corrections did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Attorney Trenton Burns, who represents Dunbar's family, said the conditions she was left in were "grossly inhumane."
"Even worse when you're completely ignored for those 18 hours, other than a correction officer flipping you the middle finger as you try to get their attention," he added. "It's truly, truly awful and disgusting to watch how the conduct of those sworn to protect Stephanie, and the failures of LMDC and Metro Government as a whole, shattered this woman's spirit and left her broken and hopeless, alone and ignored without the most basic, constitutionally mandated amenities."
Since May 2021, 13 people have died inside Metro Correction, the suit said.
Former Dir. Dwayne Clark, among other officials and officers, as well as the jail’s medical provider were named in the suit.
Daniel Johnson, Louisville Corrections FOP president, said there are not enough employees at the jail.
"We do not have enough people to properly supervise the people in our custody," Johnson said. "It's impossible to be everywhere at once."
The Metro Council Public Safety committee has questioned jail leadership about the number of deaths and both the Louisville Metro Police Department and FBI are looking into some of the incidents.
This story may be updated.
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