Woman Sues After Son’s Death in Jasper County Jail
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A Joplin woman is suing Jasper County, saying her son died in the county jail after he was denied his blood pressure medicine and left strapped in a restraint chair for at least 21 hours.
The Joplin Globe reports 13 current or former jail employees, a doctor and a nurse also are named in the lawsuit filed by Tuesday by Jane Brown in federal court in Springfield.
The Joplin Globe reports Brown's son, 43-year-old Richard H. Watson, was found unresponsive and not breathing inside the jail last Dec. 18. Efforts to resuscitate him failed.
Sheriff Randee Kaiser says the department does not comment on pending litigation. Kaiser was not sheriff when Watson died.