The wife of a man who died at the Silverdale Jail has filed suit in Federal Court, alleging that jail officials denied her pleas to be able to bring him his prescription medication and assured her he was well.
Christin Cornett is suing the county and former Sheriff Jim Hammond.
Brandon Cornett died on April 25, 2022 - 20 days after he entered Silverdale on charges related to drinking and driving.
The suit says, "Mr. Cornett had undergone four back surgeries in the previous year that caused him to struggle with pain management. When Plaintiff called Silverdale to ask if she could drop off his prescription medications, she was told that they already had everything he would need. However, when she spoke to Mr. Cornett on April 8, 2022, she could tell that something was terribly wrong. He sounded incoherent, out of his mind.
"Over the next couple of weeks, Plaintiff called Silverdale multiple times and begged them to conduct a wellness check on her husband and to allow her to drop off his prescriptions. Again, she was assured that they were handling the situation. Plaintiff would not get the chance to speak to her husband again.
"On April 25, 2022, Mr. Cornett was found unresponsive and with oozing sores on his legs. Medical records obtained by Plaintiff show that Mr. Cornett was not seen by medical professionals until April 24, 2022, the day before he died and 16 days after Plaintiff first alerted Silverdale that something was wrong."
The suit says Mr. Cornett graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee. He was the general manager of the American Legacy Signage Company, which he founded.
It says, "He left behind his wife, two young daughters, mother, stepfather, and many other friends and family, all of whom are devastated by his early and unjust passing. Plaintiff files this action to seek justice on behalf of her husband and all other families with loved ones who entered Silverdale never to return home."
The complaint also says, "Silverdale has long had the reputation of being a poorly run and dangerous jail. Inmates have been attacked and injured by other inmates armed with makeshift weapons, including stabbings with “shanks,” or jail knives. Silverdale inmates also have died due to medical neglect and maltreatment by staff, prompting numerous lawsuits.
"This state of affairs is well-known, as was evidenced in mid-February of 2020, when federal Judge Sandy Mattice, after consultation with federal Judge Travis McDonough, directed all fifty-two federal inmates housed in Silverdale to be transferred out of Silverdale and put into neighboring facilities due to concern for the inmates’ safety."
The lawsuit asks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
It also asks "That this Court appoint an independent monitor to conduct regular unannounced inspections at Silverdale and report whether Defendants have remedied their chronic unlawful conduct, and that this Court issue an injunction permanently enjoining Defendants from continuing to operate Silverdale if they fail to do so."
The suit was filed by attorneys Derek Jordan, W. Alan Rose, and Corey A. Spearman of Tullahoma.