Lawsuit Filed in Virginia Inmate’s Death

The estate of a man who died of heat exposure at the Richmond City Jail, in Virginia, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and the sheriff’s department.

The federal lawsuit filed Friday in Richmond seeks more than $10 million in damages.

The lawsuit claims 55-year-old Grant R. Sleeper died in June 2010 after he suffered a fatal heat stroke while being housed at the jail, which has no air conditioning in the men’s tiers.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Dwight C. Jones tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the city doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits, while the sheriff’s office didn’t immediately comment.

Last September a jury returned a $2.4 million verdict against Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. and the jail’s former chief physician in another inmate’s death in March 2008.