By ESTEBAN PARRA and LEE WILLIAMS
The News Journal
12/03/2005
The February death of a 20-year-old inmate was a suicide and not a murder as a federal lawsuit alleges, Delaware's Department of Correction commissioner said Friday.
The civil suit, which was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, claimed Jermaine Lamar Wilson was murdered while being held at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna. Wilson, who was serving a robbery sentence, was found hanging in his cell with a gash on his head.
His family says Wilson's clothes were delivered to them stained with blood.
He died Feb. 18, the day he was supposed to be released, family members said.
"The suicide of Jermaine Wilson was an unfortunate incident," Commissioner Stan Taylor said in an e-mail Friday evening.
"The Department of Correction makes every effort to prevent suicide by offenders and will continue to do so. The DOC's Internal Affairs Unit, the Delaware State Police, the Medical Examiner's Office and the Attorney General's Office all conducted reviews and none determined that the cause of death was anything other than suicide."
Taylor did not comment on other allegations made in the wrongful death suit, which accuses corrections officials of confusing Wilson with another prisoner who had a similar name and claims they intentionally covered up the mistake.
The suit filed against nine prison officials, including Taylor, asks for an undisclosed amount of general and punitive damages.
"Because of the litigation, I am not able to comment further," Taylor's e-mail said.
The suit was filed on behalf of Wilson's mother, Susie Wilson, and his 2-year-old son.
The Rev. Christopher Bullock, a founding member of the Delaware Coalition for Prison Reform and Justice, said the group "is in full support of" Susie Wilson and encourages others to file litigation to get to the truth of many of the department's problems.
"If the state will not pay attention one way, there are other ways to get them to pay attention," said Bullock, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in Wilmington.
Members formed the coalition following a series of News Journal articles pointing out a high rate of AIDS-related inmate deaths and suicides during the past four years.
In addition to asking for an outside investigation of the prison system, the group has also requested a meeting with Taylor and Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to discuss prison issues. Neither Taylor nor Minner has responded to the request, Bullock said.
"We're getting to the point where we are tired of talking through the press," he said. "Let's come together and talk about the problems.
"We want to help find a resolution to these problems."
Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at 324-2362 or lwilliams@delawareonline.com.
