Family sues jail in Tennessee over death of inmate son
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee jail is being sued by the family of an inmate who died after a fight in his cell.
The lawsuit by the family of 39-year-old Billy Joe Rogers says the Bradley County jail is vastly overcrowded and riddled with gang violence. The suit also says information about Rogers’ death has been withheld from the family and that video and witness statements has been lost or destroyed.
The Times Free Press of Chattanooga reports (http://bit.ly/2pWYiEl) Rogers was found unresponsive in his cell after a fight with another inmate in late April. Rogers died three days later at a Chattanooga hospital.
The suit asks for $11 million, a grand jury investigation and claims the overcrowded jail has a gang-violence problem that may have been a factor in Rogers’ death.
