When Eric Melton allegedly died from neglect and mistreatment while in custody of the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office in January of this year, a former inmate of the jail recalled a time he was denied medical attention in 2018, under the former sheriff’s administration.
The former inmate, who wishes to remain anonymous, was arrested in May of 2018. The next day he told the correctional officers he needed his heart medicine and continued asking different officers for weeks, but they allegedly kept telling him they would let Captain Joshua LaFleur know. “I needed my medication, but they refused it. They were supposed to medically evaluate me, but they never did,” said the former inmate.
After a few days, the inmate said he was begging them to let him see a doctor. He complained to deputies of severe headaches and seeing double with his vision. “I was praying every night to let me go to the doctor.” The inmate was able to get a note to Captain LaFleur, who allegedly wrote back to him, telling him they would let a nurse evaluate him and try to get him his medication. According to the inmate, that afternoon they transferred him to LaSalle Correctional facility in northern Louisiana. “They wanted to get rid of me. They knew they had a problem on their hands,” he said.
By the time he arrived at the new facility, the inmate said his vision was deteriorating. “I couldn’t even see. There was darkness and my eye was red,” he said, adding he was losing his voice, and guards had to get close to him to hear what he was saying. “I was dying slowly.” A couple of days later he was sent to the hospital and then taken right away to ICU where he stayed for several days.
When the inmate was sent back to the Evangeline Parish Jail, allegedly he was again not given his medication. In an inmate request form from August 6, 2018, the former inmate stated an evaluating nurse told him he ran out of his medication on August 1. He further states the nurse had told the officers he needed to go to the doctor and refill his medicine. He alleges he was not taken to the doctor for five days, and was without his medication during that time, which caused his blood pressure to escalate, bad headaches, and vision problems.
In another request form, he stated: “It’s getting to the point I don’t even want to live anymore. I’m scared at this point of my life ending [...] Med’s not being given to me, my heart and head hurt so bad. I’m so scared tonight.” When he was finally able to see a doctor, he claims he was still not being given some of his medication, and other medicine he was being given were wrong and being administered at the incorrect time of day.
The former inmate also claims to have seen another inmate lying on the floor, unable to get up. He claims the nurse told the correction officers the inmate on the floor needed to go to the ER, but nothing was done. “That’s not the half of what my eyes have seen,” said the former inmate.
The inmate hired a lawyer who tried for a couple of years to sue the former Evangeline Parish Sheriff and several corrections officers as well as the sheriff of LaSalle Parish and several deputies from his time there in 2018. The former inmate’s attorney was able to get to the deposition stage, but when he found out the Sheriff’s Office does not carry liability insurance, he withdrew as council because there was no way for him to get paid damages.
Current Sheriff Charles Guillory said the Sheriff’s Office does not carry liability insurance. He said he attended a meeting last year with sheriffs around the state and found out most offices do not carry liability insurance. “Every single sheriff I talked to said they didn’t have insurance, other than vehicle insurance,” said Guillory.
The former inmate has over 70 pages of documentation from his ordeal. Included in this documentation is the hand-written note allegedly exchanged between himself and Captain LaFleur, the names of inmates who were witnesses, the names of deputies who interacted with him, proof of his medical condition and of his time in ICU, official legal documents, his own personal notes he took at the time, etc. He also has numerous inmate request forms dating from May of 2018, where he repeatedly asked for his heart and blood pressure medications. Additionally, he has detailed inmate grievance forms he filled out when he was in custody, which say how he was not taken to several important doctor appointments, including appointments with his cardiologist.
Captain Joshua LaFleur was asked about the former inmate’s claim, but he said he could not speak on matters currently in litigation. When informed that the matter was no longer in litigation, LaFleur said he could not recall the details enough to speak about it, but said, “When inmates request to see a doctor or a nurse, the request is given to a nurse. The nurse evaluates them from there.”
Police Jury President Ryan LeDay Williams said he was not aware of the claims of the former inmate, “But I think since sometime in 2017 the police jury has been providing nurses twice daily and administering meds, and a doctor that visits two to three times a week to address any other issues that may arise, etc” He added, “To the best of my knowledge, the police jury hasn’t had liability insurance since the back end of the 1970’s or so.” As for the corrections officers, he said “That is strictly on the sheriff’s department.”
Williams further said the police jury has an agreement with Acadian Ambulance to visit the jail if any issue arises and to allow the paramedics to make a decision if an inmate needs to be brought to a medical provider or not. If an inmate needs immediate attention, Acadian Ambulance will transport the inmate to the nearest facility for treatment.
In total, the former inmate was in the jail system for about three months before having an evidentiary hearing. Since then, he has had a stroke and lost some vision in his right eye, which he attributes to the alleged neglect he received between the Evangeline Parish Jail and the LaSalle Correctional Center. He has heart disease and is taking medication for heart failure and seizures among other ailments. “I went from two medications I needed back then to now taking 11,” he said.
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Nancy Duplechain
Associate Editor