Michael Payne was not the only person facing minor charges to die recently amid questionable medical attention at Baltimore County?s jail, according to internal jail records obtained by The Examiner.
Since November, three people facing misdemeanor charges died from “natural causes” after not receiving the medical attention they sought at the Baltimore County Detention Center, the records show.
“They killed my son,” said Payne?s father, Michael, 70, who described his son as a loving father of four who lived in Halethorpe. “They took him in on some charges I don?t think were legitimate, and they watched him as he died. They never took him to a hospital. They didn?t do right by him.”
Payne?s concerns were echoed by Stephen Deruggiero, 56, the husband of Theresa Deruggiero, 43, who died in March at the jail while staff there wrote reports stating they believed she was faking her ailments, which included falling down and urinating on herself. The state medical examiner ruled she died of heart and kidney problems.
“Inmate Deruggiero continues to display manipulative behavior and claims she cannot walk,” states a Feb. 20 internal jail incident report.
Deruggiero was held on $25,000 bail on charges of giving a false statement to a police officer and misusing a telephone with repeated calls.
“They thought she was faking,” said Deruggerio?s husband, who lives in Dundalk. “They weren?t helping her. They were hurting her more.”
Another man, Kevin Beard, 45, of Baltimore, died within the past year after requesting medical treatment. Beard was held on $25,000 bail on charges of drug possession. A day before his Nov. 23 death, he complained of “feeling nauseous” and said he hadn?t eaten in four days.
Beard was told he “needed to put in a sick call slip,” documents show. The next day, jail staff rushed Beard to a nearby hospital with chest pains. The medical examiner ruled his death was due to damaged heart valves.
Payne, 45, died of a heart attack Dec. 30 after shaking uncontrollably and falling down unconscious for four days. Jail records show he was held on $10,000 bail on a disorderly-conduct charge and received medical treatment four times since Dec. 27 ? but was never taken to a hospital.
Under close watch, he was supposed to be checked every 15 minutes, but a surveillance video shows it took more than two hours for staff to enter his room after he stopped moving.
Baltimore County Detention Center administrator James O?Neill was out of the office Thursday and did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though last week he defended his staff?s handling of Payne?s case. Baltimore County spokesman Don Mohler said County Executive Jim Smith was “reviewing the entire situation.”
Payne?s sister, Cathy Stachura, 50, of Glen Burnie, said her brother is deeply missed by his four children: Ashley, 20, Cody, 18, Sidney, 13, and Gabriel, 5.
“She was the apple of his eye,” she said of her brother?s relationship with his youngest daughter.
Baltimore County is spending nearly $6 million on inmate care this year in a private contract with Conmed Healthcare Management Inc., which has run the jail?s medical care since 2006. Richard Turner, president and chief executive officer of Conmed, did not respond to a request for comment.
