HARRISON COUNTY, Ind. (WDRB) -- A southern Indiana family is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Harrison County Jail on behalf of Jerod Draper, a former inmate who died after being locked up last month.
“They treated him like he was disposable, and they didn’t care,” said the family’s attorney, Larry Wilder. “And that’s not the way the law provides you have to be treated.”
According to a news release from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department dated the day after Draper’s death, he was arrested around 4 a.m. Oct. 4 after a police pursuit. Draper was pronounced dead just after 8 p.m. that same day. During those 16 hours, the lawsuit alleges the jail’s staff failed to properly fulfill their duties in caring for Draper, violating his constitutional rights, which lead to his death.
“Getting arrested and having a drug problem does not mean you give up your rights to be treated humane,” Wilder said.
When Draper was arrested by police in Corydon, Wilder said he never drove faster than five to ten miles per hour during this pursuit. Wilder said police were chasing Draper because they believed “he had narcotics and methamphetamine in his possession.”
While taking Draper into custody, deputies noticed he had bloody cuts on his wrists. According to the statement from the sheriff’s department, he said he was suicidal, he refused medical treatment, but he was taken to the Harrison County Hospital for evaluation. The hospital did not admit Draper and did not perform any tests, Wilder said.
When Draper was brought back to jail, he became agitated and violent.
“They responded by stripping him of his clothing, placing him in a restraint chair on suicide watch,” Wilder said.
Draper eventually calmed down and was released from the chair, according to the sheriff department’s statement. But then a couple hours later, he started spinning in circles and hitting himself.
“They put him back in the restraint chair,” Wilder said. “And in order to achieve that, they began to Tase him with a Taser.”
The jail’s staff called EMS, which arrived at 1:27 p.m. Once the restraints were loosened to move him to a gurney, Draper was unresponsive. He was taken to Harrison County Hospital for treatment then airlifted to Norton’s Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville, where he was pronounced dead.
According to the autopsy report, Draper died from acute poisoning from a methamphetamine overdose. The coroner found a clear plastic bag in his stomach, “which presumably contained methamphetamine that was swallowed by Jerod,” according to the lawsuit.
“I’m sure he told the police that he’d taken the drugs,” said Vicki Budd, Draper's mother.
She broke down crying as she recounted the day her son died. She said Draper had battled addiction for more than ten years but had been drug-free for 14 months. Budd learned Draper was in jail again when she got a voicemail from him.
She said she was disappointed, but she had no clue he was suicidal or in any danger.
“I remember thinking that morning with great relief,” Budd paused, trembling with tears. “At least he’s safe.”
She said the next phone call she got was late that afternoon saying Draper was brain-dead and heading to the hospital.
After learning the series of events leading up to her son’s death, Budd said the family decided to “shine a light on” on what they believe to be a history of mistreating inmates at the Harrison County Jail.
“They thought he didn’t matter, and he did matter,” Budd said. “I’ll show up for my son one more time.”
Draper leaves behind a young daughter. Budd, as the representative of Draper’s estate, is demanding with the lawsuit $700,000 for recovery on the child’s behalf, which is the state-allowed maximum. But Budd said this goes beyond money.
“What I’d like to ask for are changes: changes in how they treat people,” she said. “For all the people who have been mistreated in Harrison County Jail, I’m here in hopes that it won’t happen moving forward.”
Wilder said this is not the first time the Harrison County Jail has faced accusations of mistreating inmates. He said the lawsuit makes very clear that Draper died as a result of the jail’s failure to treat him in a humane manner. He hopes more training and policy changes will come as a result.
“We are still the United States of America,” Wilder said. “Jerod was not an immigrant, a migrant or somebody trying to run the border of this country. He was a citizen. He was born here, and he should be treated like a citizen. And he was not. He was treated like an animal.”
The Harrison County sheriff said, over the phone, he could not comment on pending litigation.
Copyright 2018 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
