EVERETT — The mother of a man who died of an overdose in the Snohomish County Jail in 2020 claims staff didn’t do enough to prevent her son’s death.
Christopher Hankins had been in a “very vulnerable state of mind” about two months before being booked into jail, to the point where he was taken to the emergency room for “unstable behavior,” according to a lawsuit the mother filed Thursday in Snohomish County Superior Court.
And a month before his arrest, Hankins tried to take his own life, according to his mother’s lawsuit.
In July 2020, police arrested the Everett man, 34, for investigation of second-degree assault after he allegedly threw a firework at another person. When booked, he reported he was high on meth and taking medication to treat his depression, bipolar disorder and seizures, according to the lawsuit.
Ten days later, a jail deputy was conducting routine checks on inmates early the morning of Sept. 16 and found Hankins “sitting on his stool sideways with his head down on his bunk,” according to the complaint. The deputy shook him awake and called for medical assistance.
A nurse checked his vitals, and noted his pulse was a “little elevated,” but reported no other unusual activity, according to the lawsuit. The staff then left Hankins in the same position on the stool.
Three hours later, the deputy reportedly returned to Hankins’ cell and again tried to shake him awake. Hankins didn’t respond.
More jail staff arrived to find Hankins did not have a pulse. Deputies and medical personnel attempted chest compressions for roughly 40 minutes before he was pronounced dead.
Hankins died of acute heroin intoxication, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.
When he died, Hankins was being held on $10,000 bail and awaiting trial.
In the lawsuit, Hankins’ mother’s lawyer Melanie Nguyen claims jail staff didn’t have adequate training and procedures to properly treat her son’s mental health and substance abuse conditions.
“Snohomish County was unreasonable in its failure to observe, monitor and provide the care and treatment necessary to prevent Christopher Hankins’ foreseeable death,” the lawsuit said.
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Given his history of mental health and drug issues, Nguyen argues her son’s death could have been prevented if staff provided more urgent care after recognizing an abnormal pulse, the lawsuit says.
“The SCJ staff simply ignored signs that Hankins was dying,” the complaint argues.
Hankins is survived by his son.
“Incarcerated individuals are not free to leave jails or prisons to obtain their own medical care,” the lawsuit reads. “Snohomish County has a non-delegable duty to exercise reasonable care in the protection of jail inmates from reasonable foreseeable harms and to provide reasonable medical care.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated when Christopher Hankins died in the Snohomish County Jail. He died Sept. 16, 2020.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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