Philip E. Parker Jr.
Philip E. Parker Jr. was 20 years old, and hours before he died he had testified at a sentencing hearing on behalf of another person held in custody. On February 2, 2005, while being transported by bus from Hagerstown to Baltimore, he was strangled and his neck was cut by another person held in custody, with a corrections officer seated seven feet away. Harford County Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. found that prison workers made a series of mistakes that made the killing preventable, and officers were reported to have heard the attacker threaten to kill someone hours earlier. In 2015 Maryland's highest court affirmed an $18.5 million jury verdict finding the state and four correctional officers negligent in his death. His mother, Melissa Rodriguez, said after the ruling, "They took everything away from me," and the family's lawyer said interest had pushed the award above $25 million.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (neglect alleged). A fellow prisoner choked and cut Parker on a transport bus; Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. said prison workers made a series of mistakes that made the killing preventable, and the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a jury's negligence verdict in the family's lawsuit, which says officers ignored a threat the attacker made hours earlier and placed Parker among other inmates in loose restraints.
Reported by: Harford County Circuit Judge Emory A. Plitt Jr. (court); Maryland Court of Appeals (court); Parker's parents' wrongful death lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: His parents sued the state and four correctional officers, a jury awarded $18.5 million, and Maryland's highest court affirmed the verdict in 2015.