Gregg County Jail Death Lawsuit Dismissed

LONGVIEW — The mother of a man who died in custody at the Gregg County Jail has agreed to drop the lawsuit she filed claiming her son suffered a seizure because he was denied his prescribed drugs. That’s according to KETK and the Longview News-Journal. A three-sentence order from the federal court in Marshall says Gregg County and Betty Madewell, mother of Bobby Joe Madewell Jr., have “settled all claims.” U.S. Magistrate Judge Roy Payne’s May 11 order calls on parties to file a dismissal motion within 30 days. Robert Davis, the county’s attorney, said Madewell agreed to drop her claim shortly before a jury was seated in Marshall federal court. “The case has just been dismissed by the plaintiffs with prejudice,” Davis said, meaning she cannot file the claim again. “The county has spent no money on it.”

Betty Madewell sued Gregg County in August 2013. Her 51-year-old son died March 21, 2013, nine days after his arrest on a charge accusing him of breaking bond conditions on a pending assault charge. The man’s mother claimed in the lawsuit, carried by the Tefteller firm in Gilmer, that her son was denied the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the muscle relaxant hydrocodone, both of which he had prescriptions. Attorney Todd Tefteller declined to comment on the settlement Wednesday.