Joshua England
Joshua England was 21 when he died in May 2018 at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington, Oklahoma. His obituary says he worked from age 14 to 20 at a cattle auction barn near Fairview, where he grew up, and his family remembered him as a rambunctious boy with a disarming smile and a great passion for his friends and family. His mother's lawsuit against state prison officials says he died of complications from a ruptured appendix, that he asked for medical attention five times over a week, and that staff gave him Pepto-Bismol and ibuprofen without a full abdominal exam and left him in his cell. The prison's incident report says guards called an ambulance only after finding him on the dayroom floor, and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). His family's lawsuit says he died of appendicitis after staff ignored five written requests for medical attention and gave him Pepto-Bismol and ibuprofen without a full abdominal exam, while the Oklahoma Department of Corrections declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Reported by: his family, in a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (family or their lawyers); Oklahoma Department of Corrections (the agency that held him).
Lawsuit: His family sued the Oklahoma Department of Corrections over his death at Joseph Harp Correctional Center, alleging staff ignored his requests for medical care, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.