Lawsuit Filed Over Gregg County Inmate’s Death

GREGG COUNTY — The mother of a man who died in 2011 while in Gregg County Jail custody has filed suit seeking $2.5 million from Gregg County. According to the Longview News-Journal, Cheyenne Smith filed the lawsuit June 5 � one day before the statute of limitations would have expired � in U.S. District Court in Marshall on behalf of the estate of her son Micah Robert Aaron Garner, 30, who died June 6, 2011.

The suit claims Garner died because jail staff denied him proper medical treatment for withdrawal from heroin and methadone. The final autopsy in the case ruled the manner of Garner�s death undetermined, and the cause of death as nocturnal adult death with evidence of recent ingestion of methamphetamine. Tarrant County Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Marc A. Krouse noted there were no signs of notable trauma or foul play.

Records showed Garner was booked into the Gregg County Jail 23 times between 2000 and 2011.

Smith requested a jury trial and is seeking $2.5 million, according to the accompanying documents.