Mentally Ill Man's Estate Awarded $28.5 Million
(Sumter-AP) December 16, 2005 - The family of a mentally ill man who died in a jail four years ago has been awarded more than $28 million following two weeks of testimony in a wrongful death trial.
A Sumter County jury found that Eastern Health Care should pay the family of the Reverend Ronel Huggins. The company was contracted to provide care for inmates in 2001.
The 43-year-old Huggins suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and diabetes. He was found dead two days after being arrested on indecent exposure charges.
The attorney representing Huggins' estate said the company failed to screen Huggins and contact a nurse before lockup.
The coroner had attributed Huggins' death to natural causes, but also said he died because he did not receive the insulin he needed.
Posted 1:40pm by Bryce Mursch

















