The family of Kyle Harrison, a 25-year-old man who died earlier this year at the Maple Street Correctional Facility after being sentenced for a fatal crash, filed a claim against San Mateo County alleging negligence and wrongful death.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors denied the claim, which seeks at least $10 million in damages, on Oct. 21.
According to a copy of the claim obtained by this news organization, Harrison’s parents allege that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and its employees failed to provide proper medical care and administered a medication that was not prescribed for his condition. The filing states that the medication posed a “serious risk of harm or death when mixed with other medications” and that staff “failed to adequately monitor” him afterward.
Harrison’s death was caused by the toxic effects of methadone, amitriptyline and gabapentin and was ruled accidental by the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office. An investigation by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office found that Harrison had been prescribed amitriptyline and gabapentin, but not methadone.
The family accuses the county of multiple violations, including negligence, medical malpractice and civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The filing also cites California Government Code sections 844.6 and 845.6, which require jailers to provide medical care to inmates in distress, as well as state codes related to wrongful death and negligent supervision.
The claim seeks damages for funeral and burial costs, medical expenses, loss of companionship and support, and the “pain and suffering of decedent after the ingestion of the medication and prior to his death.”
Harrison died on March 15, three weeks after being sentenced for his role in a fatal street racing crash that killed a San Carlos couple. His death was the sixth in-custody death during the tenure of former Sheriff Christina Corpus. Harrison was awaiting transfer to a state prison at the time of his death and had less than two years remaining on his sentence.
San Mateo County declined to comment.
Under the Government Claims Act, a party must first file a claim with a government agency before pursuing a lawsuit in most cases.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct Harrison’s age.