Oklahoma County’s Insurer to Pay $750K in Inmate Death Settlement
A settlement has been reached in a federal lawsuit over the 2013 death of a diabetic man who was denied medical treatment at a county jail in Oklahoma, according to court records.
McClain County commissioners will pay $750,000 to the estate of Kory Wilson, according to probate records filed last month.
Wilson was arrested at Newcastle Casino for allegedly having a gun on June 16, 2013. According to court documents, he told jailers he was diabetic but didn’t receive medical care until three days later, when he was found unresponsive in his cell. The 27-year-old never regained consciousness and died days later at a hospital.
An autopsy report said Wilson’s cause of death was a diabetes complication called diabetic ketoacidosis.
Commissioners agreed to pay the settlement in May after a former jail administrator, Wayne Evans Barnes, pleaded guilty to violating the inmate’s rights, The Oklahoman reported. Barnes was sentenced in August to serve more than four years in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
“Hopefully, this serves as a deterrent for jails around the state and the country not to do this,” said John Branum, an attorney involved in the lawsuit. “It’s just a tragedy.”
County commissioners said the settlement is covered by insurance, so property owners won’t see any increase in real estate taxes to cover the costs.
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