Father of 18-year-old sues Houston County Jail infirmary after son’s death
The father of an 18-year-old incarcerated at the Houston County Jail in 2023 has sued the infirmary’s personnel, alleging they didn’t treat his son’s head injury properly and that led to his death, according to a lawsuit removed to federal court Friday.
Aaron Gilpin, father of Braxton Gilpin, shared in his lawsuit filed March 13 that he had fought his foster brothers before being struck above his right eye and temporarily losing consciousness in early April 2023. He was arrested and transported to the Houston County Detention Center, and, even though the arresting deputy determined the teenager appeared normal before being admitted to the jail, his condition progressively worsened during his stay, according to the lawsuit.
The teenager suffered from hemophilia B, a medical condition that “affects blood clotting and makes sufferers more likely to experience bleeding episodes,” the lawsuit said.
Braxton Gilpin had told nurses doing his medical intake that he had been hit in the head, which led the nurses to schedule an appointment with a doctor for the following day, the lawsuit said.
But by the time nurses were treating Braxton Gilpin’s worsening condition, it was too late. He first went brain-dead before officially being declared dead around 3 a.m. on April 7, 2023. The cause of death was determined to be a “right frontotemporal intraparenchymal hematoma,” according to the lawsuit.
Aaron Gilpin sued several people and entities:
- CorrectHealth, which manages the infirmary
- CorrectHealth Houston, LLC
- Kimberly Nichols, licensed practical nurse
- Anne Vissage, licensed practical nurse
- Stacy Danley, licensed practical nurse
- Lisa Barwick, licensed practical nurse
- Janette West, licensed practical nurse
- Rodney Ross, deputy sheriff
- Zachariah Filipovich, deputy sheriff
- Kyle Berger, deputy sheriff
He accused the nurses of neglecting Braxton Gilpin and breaching their duty to care for him by not referring the teenager to a more thorough medical evaluation to rule out traumatic brain injury or internal bleeding, and not sending him to the hospital immediately when his condition was worsening, even though the nurses were aware he was hit in the head.
The lawsuit also accuses the deputy sheriffs of neglecting Braxton Gilpin by failing to provide any medical care or have others provide medical care and treatment for him.
The nurses and deputy sheriffs both face allegations of violating the teenager’s civil rights, the lawsuit says.
Darl Champion Jr. is representing Aaron Gilpin in the litigation. They’re asking for a judgment to be entered against CorrectHealth, the nurses and the deputy sheriff, as well as a trial by jury and other relief.
Teen wasn’t treated for hours, lawsuit says
Once Braxton Gilpin was taken to the Houston County Detention Center after the fight, a deputy noted that he had normal skin color and he exhibited no signs of slurred speech, sweating, shaking and no noticeable intoxication, the lawsuit said. The deputy also noted that he had hemophilia.
Braxton Gilpin was given a medical intake by Nichols, who “would have had access to Braxton’s intake documents where his history of Hemophilia was documented, and she knew or should have known he had Hemophilia,” according to the lawsuit. The intake also noted that the teenager did not use tobacco, drugs or alcohol, as well as his allergy to blood thinners.
Nichols was told by Braxton Gilpin that he had been involved in a fight where he was punched in the head and that his right and middle fingers hurt, which led the nurse to make an appointment with a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant for the following day.
But around 3:30 a.m. on April 4, 2023, Braxton Gilpin began vomiting in his cell, according to the lawsuit, which attributes the information to the teenager’s cellmate at the time. Ross was alerted to Braxton Gilpin’s condition at around 6:50 a.m. and found the teenager “face down on the floor of the cell, unresponsive,” the lawsuit said.
Filipovich came to the cell to drag the teenager out. Braxton Gilpin was in an altered mental state, compared to how he presented when he was first admitted, and could not sit up on his own nor respond to Filipovich’s questions. His left fist was also locked in a clinched position, according to the lawsuit.
Nurses Vissage and Danley couldn’t check his vitals due to his inability to sit up unassisted, which led Filipovich and Ross to physically hold up Braxton Gilpin in order to check his vitals, the lawsuit said. The notes of the vitals were not recorded.
Deputies and nurses found a raised area on his right temple, indicating head trauma, the lawsuit said. Vissage checked Braxton Gilpin’s right pupil, which did not dilate even when she shined her light into it.
Braxton Gilpin was housed in a room in the jail’s medical unit, but they “did not believe Braxton was going to receive any medical care there, and none of these defendants had any information that Braxton was going to receive medical care,” the lawsuit said.
Although the teenager was supposed to have been observed every 15 minutes, the lawsuit alleged he was not given medical care or medical monitoring for three hours, even though his symptoms indicated a serious medical condition that needed attention. The infirmary was staffed by West and Barwick.
“At most, Braxton was simply visually observed by a deputy during that time during routine cell checks,” the lawsuit said.
A deputy told West around 10:15 a.m. that Braxton Gilpin “would have short periods of heavy breathing followed by quiet periods,” according to the lawsuit. West approached the room to check on him, but, even despite verbal stimuli and physical stimuli, the teenager did not respond.
Emergency medical services were called some minutes after, and medical staff at the jail administered Narcan to Braxton Gilpin while they waited, even though they had no information about the teenager using drugs.
Braxton Gilpin was taken to the hospital by EMS at 10:29 a.m., where he died.
Deputies respond to suit
Ross, Filipovich and Boerger responded to the lawsuit in court documents Saturday,alleging they lacked enough knowledge of the events before Braxton Gilpin was taken to jail to speak on it, but confirmed many of the events that occurred after the teenager had vomited in his cell, according to court records.
They confirmed that Braxton Gilpin appeared unable to sit up on his own, causing him to fall over, and that he also couldn’t respond to questions posed by the deputies.
The deputies also confirmed that they saw Braxton Gilpin’s raised area on the right side of his head and admitted to hearing one of the nurses tell them that she heard that he was hit in the head, according to court records. However, Filipovich denied that he was aware that Braxton Gilpin was hit in the head. They further confirmed that Braxton Gilpin had no history of drug usage or abuse.
Ross, Filipovich and Boerger denied that a reasonable person would have determined that the teenager was suffering from a medical emergency and that he was left unattended when taken to the medical unit, according to court records.
The deputies further argued that they didn’t deprive Braxton Gilpin of his rights and that there was no intentionally negligent conduct on their part. Lastly, they raised their right for official immunity and requested the court to discharge them from the lawsuit.
They also requested a jury trial.
The nurses and CorrectHealth have not responded to the allegations in the lawsuit prior to publication. CorrectHealth was reached prior to publication and has not received a response.
A lawsuit only represents one side of a story and the allegations made haven’t yet been proven in court.
