Losing a family member is devastating under any circumstances. Losing one while they are in custody, and then being told the system will handle it internally, can feel like having a door slammed in your face. How can those responsible be held to account for their death? Can grieving families bring a lawsuit? The short answer is yes, in many cases you can. But the path to getting there involves some legal realities that every family should understand before time runs out.
Illinois law provides two main avenues for families in this situation. The first is a wrongful death claim, which allows the estate of the person who died to pursue compensation for the losses their surviving family members have suffered. The second is a civil rights claim under federal law, which addresses situations where constitutional violations, such as the use of excessive force or deliberate indifference to a serious medical need, contributed to the death. In many custody death cases, both types of claims are pursued together because they address different aspects of what went wrong.
At Montgomery Law Firm LLC in Chicago, our compassionate and skilled lawyer will guide you and your families through whichever legal process is needed. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
What Kind of Compensation Can Families Recover?
Grieving families deserve to understand what a successful claim might mean for them financially before they commit to a difficult legal process. Under Illinois law, a wrongful death claim seeks compensation for the financial support the deceased would have provided, the loss of companionship and guidance their family members have suffered, grief, sorrow, and mental suffering.
Civil rights claims can sometimes recover additional damages, including punitive damages in cases involving particularly serious misconduct. No attorney can promise a specific outcome, and every case is different. But the potential for financial recovery is real, and that matters when a family is weighing whether to move forward.
What Does a Custody Death Claim Look Like in Practice?
Corey Bailey was 31 years old when he was jailed in June 2008 on a DUI charge. What should have been a routine custody situation ended in his death. Cases like his illustrate something important about this area of law: the circumstances surrounding a death in custody are rarely as straightforward as the official account suggests. And the legal claims that follow often involve piecing together surveillance footage, incident reports, medical records, and witness accounts to establish what really happened.
Custody death cases in Illinois tend to cluster around a few recurring failures. Denial of necessary medical care is one of the most common. A person in custody cannot call their own doctor or walk themselves to an emergency room. The facility carries that responsibility entirely. When staff ignore visible symptoms, withhold prescribed medication, or fail to respond to a medical emergency, and someone dies as a result, that failure can form the basis of a civil lawsuit.
Excessive force during an arrest or while managing a detainee is another. And then there are situations involving inadequate monitoring, unsafe cell conditions, or failure to protect someone from harm by other inmates. Prisoners have rights under state laws and the constitution. A civil claim does not require that someone be criminally charged or convicted. The legal standards in a civil case are different from criminal prosecution, and a finding of civil liability can stand even when no criminal charges are filed against the officers or staff involved.
Who Can File, and How Long Do You Have?
Under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, the lawsuit must be filed by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate. That is a formal legal role. It is not the same as simply being a close family member. The personal representative is typically named in the deceased’s will, or, if there is no will, appointed by the court. Often that ends up being a spouse, parent, or adult child, but the appointment has to happen formally before the lawsuit can move forward.
And the family members who benefit from the recovery are not necessarily the same person who files it. The surviving spouse and next of kin receive the compensation. The personal representative manages the legal process on their behalf.
For standard wrongful death claims in Illinois, families generally have two years from the date of death to file. But when the defendant is a government entity, which a jail, prison, or police department almost always is, that window may shrink to one year. And in some situations, a formal notice of intent to sue must be submitted even before the lawsuit is filed. Missing that notice requirement can end a family’s ability to pursue the claim entirely.
Our attorney at Montgomery Law Firm LLC will advise you of deadlines that must be met.
Contact Montgomery Law Firm LLC to Learn About Your Options
If your family is dealing with the death of a loved one in Illinois police custody or at a correctional facility, we encourage you to reach out to us at Montgomery Law Firm LLC as soon as possible. The sooner we can review the facts, the better positioned your family will be to protect its rights. Our Chicago office serves clients throughout Cook County, Lake County, DuPage County, and across the state.