Sobbing as she read a heart-wrenching hand-written letter about her son, the mother of a mentally ill and diabetic inmate who died after spending seven days locked inside a Rikers Island jail cell announced Wednesday that she had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and its private jail health services contractor. In the civil rights lawsuit, Beverly Ann Griffin said her 39-year-old son, Bradley Ballard, was denied medication, ignored and neglected by jail guards and medical staff. At a news conference at her lawyers office, Griffin read from the letter, at times wailing, telling those who ignored Ballard they have to live with what you did. When you took my son away from me, part of me died too, said Griffin, 61. I will never be the same again. Though guards peered in Ballards cell dozens of times during his extended lockup, they didnt venture inside until it was too late, according to investigative documents. They found him unresponsive, naked, covered in feces, with a rubber band tied tightly around his genitals. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 00:00:01 +0000
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