Inquest asked for in death of King County inmate who begged to go to hospital
Mar 12, 2019, 11:37 AM
(AP)
(AP)
43-year-old Derek Hutchinson was homeless and struggling with heroin addiction. Jennifer McSherry – his partner of nearly 15 years who called herself his wife, though the two weren’t married — claims he wanted to get clean, and was about to get on a methadone treatment when he was arrested on a warrant in September of 2017.
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He was known to jail staff, and, according to McSherry, a model inmate.
“He’s like the poster child of how to behave when you’re in custody. He doesn’t get into any trouble, he’s ‘trustee,’” McSherry said, referring to the status given inmates who stay out of trouble.
He was taken into custody on Sept. 21, after a cop found him using heroin. The officer ran his name for warrants, a medical assessment was done, and Hutchinson was found to have a hernia, but was cleared for entry.
He was transferred to the Regional Justice Center in Kent, and placed in general population. Then, just before 5:30 a.m. on Sept. 25 — four days after he was taken into custody –Hutchison started complaining of stomach pain and nausea. A nurse checked him out and determined he was going through withdrawal, which he denied.
A few hours later, Hutchinson approached an officer at the jail’s staff station, where according to records, he “demanded” to be taken to Harborview.
That officer told him to fill out a “kite,” a written request for medical attention. Hutchinson declined and asked to see a nurse immediately.
The officer said he would get a hold of the nurse and pass on whatever Hutchinson had to say. That’s when Hutchinson doubled over, a nurse came to see him, and he was ultimately cleared to go back to his cell.
Jail records show he was not taken back to an upper unit, but kept in the lower tier. Officers thought he may try to create an opportunity to hurt himself and force them to transfer him to the hospital.
The move was described in notes as being taken “out of an abundance of caution to prevent any unnecessary hospital transports.”
Roughly 12 hours later, he collapsed, had what was described as a seizure, and stopped breathing. Medical staff came in and attempted CPR, and Kent Fire transported him to Valley Medical Center.
He was officially declared dead early the next morning.
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Corey Guilmette is with the Public Defender’s Association, and is representing McSherry. According to him, Hutchinson died of cardiac arrest, after suffering from what turned out to be a perforated ulcer for hours.
“The contents of his intestines were leaking into his abdominal cavity, causing a very painful, slow descent into cardiac arrest,” Guilmette said, adding that Hutchinson was likely left to suffer for hours because jail staff incorrectly determined that he was faking it.
Guilmette and McSherry say they want a public inquest to figure out why this happened, whether policies and training were followed, and most importantly, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
King County Public Health handles medical staff at the jail, and declined to answer specific questions about Hutchinson. They did issue a statement, though.
Our Jail Health staff works to provide the highest quality care to 35,000 patients in custody every year, many with highly complicated health circumstances. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of care for our patients and have strong policies in place to guide our work. We review cases and practices regularly, and continually improve how we provide care for this complex population of patients.
The County Executive’s Office says it is reviewing the request to determine whether an inquest should be convened.
