Judge tosses out lawsuit involving woman’s death in Lake County Jail

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit over the death of a woman in the Lake County Jail.

U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent last week dismissed the case filed by the family of Ryan Trowbridge, who died by suicide in June 2020. The lawsuit accused jail officials of ignoring Trowbridge's suicidal ideations and opioid withdrawal.

Nugent, however, found there was no evidence that jail staff knew she was suffering from withdrawal or was potentially suicidal. He dismissed all federal claims but left open the possibility that Trowbridge's family could pursue a wrongful death lawsuit in state court.

Trowbridge's estate's attorney, Michael Maillis, said Trowbridge's family hasn't yet decided if it will appeal the decision.

"The judge made his decision, and I respect the decision and his application of the law," Maillis said. "We obviously we thought we had a case, but I fully and 100% respect the decision."

Trowbridge was arrested on a misdemeanor theft charge on June 2, 2020. She told jail staff she needed several medications, including an opioid withdrawal medication and an antidepressant.

Jail staff never gave her the medication, and she hanged herself in her cell two days later. She died on June 21, 2020.

A jail doctor refused to allow her to have access to the opioid-withdrawal medication because jail policy at the time did not allow for inmates to be treated with narcotics, Nugent's ruling said. If inmates needed narcotics to be treated, they were sent to a hospital for treatment.

Nugent ruled that no case law existed at the time of Trowbridge's death that required jails or prisons to treat inmates with narcotics.

He also found that there was no record of Trowbridge exhibiting suicidal ideations while jailed, including on a phone call from jail with her boyfriend the day she tried to take her life.