NORFOLK, Va. — A family is suing the Norfolk Sheriff's Office after a loved one died by suicide while at the city jail in 2022.
Family members say 24-year-old Philemon Vinson was known to jail staff to need supervision for his mental health.
The family alleges that the jail was short-staffed and did not take the necessary steps to prevent this death from happening, including ignoring his intake screening questionnaire that reportedly showed potential suicidal tendencies and later forging a mental health report.
Officials said Vinson was taken to the jail on August 14, 2022, for failure to appear in court. He appeared in court on August 15 and was denied bond. He was later found unresponsive when deputies were delivering dinner to cells on the afternoon of August 18.
The lawsuit alleges a jail deputy had numerous occasions to check on Vinson's status inside his cell but failed to do so, despite recording he had checked on the inmate multiple times.
The lawsuit seeks $3.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.