A lawsuit filed in Federal Court asks $500,000 in damages in connection with the death of an inmate at the county jail who hanged himself even though he was on a suicide watch.
The suit was filed by Suzanne Logan, mother of Jason Logan, who hanged himself on May 5, 2011.
It is lodged against Sheriff Jim Hammond, Capt. John Swope and unknown jailers.
The suit, filed by attorney Marty Lasley, says Jason Logan was arrested May 3, 2011, by the Soddy Daisy Police Department.
The suit says he made comments about suicide soon after getting to the jail. He was evaluated by a mental health social worker the next day and it was recommended that he not be placed in a cell with another inmate because he said he would kill himself if he was.
The suit says he was placed with another inmate and he was given a flimsy blanket that he was able to tear into strips. It says the cell had a ceiling beam that the inmate was able to reach after climbing on a sink. It says cells for those under suicide watch should not have any accessible beams.
Another jail inmate committed suicide last Friday night. The sheriff's office did not say how 51-year-old Kenneth Wayne Darr was able to take his own life at the jail.