Elijah Sumler
Elijah Sumler was 40 years old and a father and partner. His partner, Dysheeka Atkins, said the family was looking forward to his coming home and that he was tremendously loved, and he regularly saw his son, Elijah Jr., who was six months old when Sumler entered custody. He died in January 2022 while in New Jersey Department of Corrections custody, after relying on steroids to treat hypopituitarism that followed brain surgery, and after testing positive for Covid-19 in the weeks before his death. Official death records list complications of panhypopituitarism as the cause, with Covid-19 noted as a contributing factor. His family has sued the department and Rutgers University Correctional Health Care, and the defendants deny the allegations.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). Official death records list complications of panhypopituitarism with Covid-19 as a contributing factor, while his family's lawsuit against the department and Rutgers University Correctional Health Care alleges failures in his medical care, which the defendants deny.
Reported by: official death records; his family's lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Corrections and Rutgers University Correctional Health Care (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: His family sued the New Jersey Department of Corrections and Rutgers University Correctional Health Care over his death, and the defendants deny the allegations.