CHARLOTTE — The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office has agreed to pay $550,000 to the family of a teenager who died by suicide in the county’s juvenile jail, which has since been closed.
According to the Charlotte Observer, the settlement comes after a federal civil lawsuit claimed that detention officers failed to adequately observe the 17-year-old, who was on suicide alert, and falsified supervision logs.
“While no amount of money will ever make my family whole and bring back my son, we will remain hopeful that no other family will have to suffer the loss of a child to suicide while in jail custody,” Adrianna Blackwell, the teenager’s mother, said in a statement.
The sheriff’s office has agreed to implement several policies aimed at preventing similar incidents, including allowing pod supervisors to place potentially suicidal residents on close observation and requiring detention staff to observe them at least four times per hour.
The family’s attorney, Micheal Littlejohn, stated that the agreement is a meaningful step but insufficient to address the trauma endured by families who have lost loved ones in custody.
The settlement is believed to be the largest monetary settlement the sheriff’s office has made for an in-custody death, though the sheriff’s office did not confirm this.
VIDEO: CMPD officer dies by suicide in west Charlotte, department says
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