Lawsuit: Inmate Hanged Self As Deputy Watched Monday Night Football On TV
BIG RAPIDS (WWJ/AP) - Family members of a man who died after hanging himself in a Michigan jail cell say the deputy who was supposed to be monitoring him instead was watching Monday Night Football on TV with other inmates.
A federal lawsuit by family of Raymond Paul Holmes says the deputy at the Mecosta County Jail also left his keys at his desk Sept. 14 and had to go downstairs to retrieve them while Holmes was hanging from a bed frame, according to a report in The Grand Rapids Press.
The lawsuit says it took 30 minutes for Holmes to be taken to a hospital, where the 32-year-old died two days later. The wrongful death lawsuit names the county, the sheriff's department, the deputy and others.
Sheriff Todd Purcell says he won't comment on pending litigation.
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