MONROE — The state last month agreed to pay $960,000 after a man’s mother alleged staff ignored signs of his mental illness before he died by suicide in the Monroe prison.
Trina Christie remembers her son, Anthony, as an ever-friendly man, who could chat with anyone. He loved his family, welding them Christmas presents and writing songs for them.
But in February 2018, after pleading guilty in Whatcom County to drug possession, Anthony Christie came under the supervision of the state Department of Corrections. In a mental health evaluation the next month, he indicated a history of suicidal thoughts, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. He had struggled with depression since he was 16.
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Under Corrections policy, Anthony Christie was supposed to get one of these evaluations every six months. But this was the only one he received, according to court documents.
A couple months after the evaluation, Trina Christie called her son’s probation officer to alert him to her son’s risk of self-harm. The officer told her the information was “very useful,” according to court papers.
In September 2018, the probation officer received an assessment recommending inpatient treatment for Anthony Christie, but that wasn’t implemented, the complaint alleged.
In the ensuing months, his mental health problems only worsened. In May 2019, his mother reportedly pleaded with Corrections to get him care before it was too late.
A couple months later, he was convicted of harassment due to an incident with his stepfather, according to the lawsuit. The conviction violated the terms of his community custody, so he had to go to prison.
At the Monroe Correctional Complex, a nurse administered a mental health screening. Anthony Christie reported he had a plan to kill himself at some point in the past six months. The nurse indicated he’d be referred to a mental health provider, but records don’t show any such assessment, according to an Office of the Corrections Ombuds report.
On Sept. 20, 2019, he was held in the Intensive Management Unit, where inmates remain in their cells for 23 hours per day, the lawsuit reported. While there, prison staff are supposed to check on them at least once every 30 minutes on an “irregular schedule.” Health care providers should also visit each inmate daily.
Staff did not follow those rules, the complaint claimed, leading to Anthony Christie’s death less than 24 hours later.
On the afternoon of Sept. 21, custody officers logged cell checks for Anthony Christie at 1:16, 2:16, 3:13 and 4:01, according to the lawsuit. During each, Anthony Christie was laying on the concrete floor with his head lodged between a pedestal and a bed. At the 4:01 p.m. cell check, the officers found him in the same position, with one flip-flop off, revealing a purple foot. That signals lividity, which likely wouldn’t be visible until about two hours after death.
Officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead. He had hanged himself.
“It’s senseless,” Trina Christie told The Daily Herald in 2022. “I just don’t understand how it could have happened and why he didn’t get help.”
‘Can and must do far better’
The Office of the Corrections Ombuds report found several problems in the prison system that led to Anthony Christie’s death.
For example, at the time of his death, medical records in his unit were kept in red folders.
Each time an incarcerated person arrived at the facility, a new red folder was created. Once they’re released or transferred, the folder got placed in a drawer. Records from prior stays weren’t incorporated into new folders, the report found. So the staff working the day Anthony Christie died were apparently unaware of his history of suicidal thoughts.
The ombuds report gave several recommendations:
• Strengthen the processes for identifying those at risk of self-harm;
• Give staff clear guidance on how to respond when a history or risk of self-harm is reported;
• Promote continuity of care so all medical records are available in one place;
• Assign a dedicated mental health provider to the unit where Anthony Christie died;
• And connect at-risk prisoners with mental health providers after release.
In fiscal year 2023, the ombuds office identified 29 unexpected in-custody deaths. Of those, six died by suicide.
In the span of 35 days last year, four inmates died by suicide and another attempted suicide at the Monroe prison and the Washington State Penintentiary in Walla Walla.
In a 2021 report on mental health in state prisons, the ombuds office reported people incarcerated with mental health conditions are often placed in the Intensive Management Unit, where Anthony Christie was reportedly held when he died. Corrections has since worked to reduce the population staying in this segregated housing.
Based on interviews with inmates, the ombuds office reported this September that solitary confinement, like the Intensive Management Unit, can exacerbate symptoms for those with chronic mental health issues. The interviewees “expressed concern that (Corrections) struggled to respond to these symptoms.”
In October, the ombuds office found Corrections still hadn’t implemented some of its recommendations from 2021, including reducing the frequency and length of stays in segregated housing for those with mental health conditions and equipping custody officers with the knowledge and skills needed to support them.
“DOC can and must do far better when it comes to protecting inmates, especially those suffering mental illness,” said Ryan Dreveskracht, the Christie family’s lawyer from Seattle firm Galanda Broadman, in a statement. “More resources, more mental health professionals dedicated to incarcerated persons, and better training are needed statewide.”
The state and Trina Christie reached the $960,000 settlement last month. On Nov. 27, a federal judge dismissed the case.
The state Department of Corrections declined to comment on the settlement.
In 2023, Corrections pledged to reduce the prison population in solitary confinement by 90% over the next five years.
The department has noted new funding allowed state prisons to increase their mental health staff to conduct evaluations for people incarcerated in solitary confinement. The department is asking for more money for further work in the next state budget.
“We have increased meaningful time out of cell, provided opportunities to engage in education and programming, and offered computer tablets with education programs, phone call capabilities, video visiting and music, and added painted walls and murals to replace stark, white and gray brick walls,” the department wrote in a September blog post.
In a statement Monday, Trina Christie called the settlement “one step forward in dealing with this avoidable tragedy.”
“I hope that it sends a clear message to corrections facilities around the country that they have an obligation to keep those in their custody safe and secure,” she continued, “and to implement and follow basic policies and procedures to ensure that happens, especially when it comes to those suffering from mental health issues.”
About a third of the settlement money is set aside for Christie’s son, 11.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
Help is available
There are free and confidential resources for people in crisis or who know someone in crisis.
If there is an immediate danger, call 911.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988, 988lifeline.org.
Care Crisis Chat: imhurting.org (chat), 800-584-3578 (call).
Compass Health’s Mobile Crisis Outreach Team may be contacted at anytime by calling the Volunteers of America crisis line: 1-800-584-3578.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.donordrive.com.
The Snohomish County Health Department has a list of other local resources: snohd.org/200/Suicide-Prevention.
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