Deundrez Woods
Deundrez Woods, 19, of Huntsville, Alabama, played football and wrestled in high school, loved to eat, and kept in touch with his old coaches and teachers. He was the father of a 2-year-old son, Jalen, and his mother remembers him as a lovable young man. While he was held at the Madison County Jail in 2013, a wound on his foot became infected and gangrenous and he grew confused; his family's federal lawsuit says jail staff used a Taser on him and left him for days without food, water, a nurse's visit or checks of his vital signs. He was eventually taken to Huntsville Hospital, and he died in August 2013 of a blood clot from the foot after his mother made the decision to remove life support. The county contested the lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff. His family's federal lawsuit says jail staff left him without treatment for a gangrenous foot wound, tased him, and gave him no food, water or vital-sign checks before he died of a blood clot.
Reported by: his family's federal lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: His family filed a federal lawsuit over his death at the Madison County Jail, and the county is defending the suit, with no settlement or award reported.
News reports (4)
- 19-year-old dies naked on cell floor of gangrene; lawsuits target deaths in Madison County jail
- Lawsuits: Alabama Jailers Allowed 3 Inmates to Die of 19th-Century Ailments
- Lawsuits: Alabama prisoners died of gangrene, constipation
- New York City to Pay $2.25M For Wrongful Death of Black Marine Vet at Riker’s