Mother of man who died in St. Louis jail from lack of insulin sues city, medical provider
ST. LOUIS — A man incarcerated at the downtown jail lost nearly a quarter of his body weight in the two months before he died of dehydration and a lack of insulin, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday on behalf of his mother.
Carlton Bernard, 32, was pronounced dead at 8:40 a.m. Aug. 20, 2023, hours after he was spotted lying on the floor of his cell at the downtown City Justice Center and days after he last took insulin.
Lawyer Mark Pedroli says in a lawsuit that the city, jail staff and the jail's former medical provider are to blame.
"Mr. Bernard ultimately died because of the defendants' deliberate indifference to his serious medical need," the lawsuit says.
The filing marks the second wrongful death lawsuit filed in a week against a city that has faced scores of complaints in recent months over a lack of medical care and poor conditions at the facility.
The lawsuit says at least 15 people died while in city jail custody between 2020 and 2023 compared with at least 17 people between 2009 to 2019.
A city spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Bernard was arrested in June 2023 on charges of third-degree assault. In the following weeks, his physical and mental health began to deteriorate, the lawsuit says.
On July 14, he was screaming in his cell about invisible insects and in fear of jail staff. Days later, a staff member requested a mental health evaluation.
But he wasn't visited by a licensed counselor until Aug. 15, according to the lawsuit. That person reported that Bernard didn't mention any mental health issues. However, Bernard had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2017.
On Aug. 17, a jail staff member reported Bernard was "very sick and frail." An officer called for a medical emergency. His food trays had been stacking up, unconsumed. He was vomiting and "visibly suffering from dehydration," according to the lawsuit.
Jail staff reported that Bernard refused to take his insulin the following two mornings. However, the lawsuit argues, that explanation is not sufficient.
"Mr. Bernard was not able to make informed medical decisions regarding his diabetic medical care due to his diagnosed, persistent, and untreated schizophrenia," the lawsuit says.
At 4 a.m. on Aug. 20, a jail nurse walked into Bernard's housing unit and delivered insulin to two other detainees. She would later tell police that he was lying on the floor of his cell, unresponsive, according to the lawsuit.
At 7:07 a.m., other detainees cleaning the floor nearby noticed Bernard in his cell and said he needed an ambulance because he couldn't catch his breath. Medical staff weren't called for more than 20 minutes, and they didn't get to his cell until 7:41 a.m.
Bernard was taken to an area hospital and pronounced dead at 8:40 a.m. The cause was ketoacidosis due to diabetes mellitus and dehydration. He weighed only 107 pounds.
"I'm hurt and angry," Bernard's mother, Shante Winston, said last year after his death. "They left my son in that cell to die."
A hearing has not yet been set in the case.
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