Anderson suit/Pat
June 28, 2017
Anderson Suit_duggins_07201_NEWS
It looks like the family of a dead Tuscaloosa County jail inmate will get their day in court. APR’s Pat Duggins has more on the case which was featured in our national award winning coverage of prison reform in Alabama…
“No one will know how we felt on that day…”
APR listeners first met Eryka Fykes a year ago. That’s when her family filed a federal suit over the death of her father Phillip Anderson. The suit alleges Tuscaloosa County jailers ignored Anderson’s screams of pain from a perforated ulcer. He later died. There’s been no settlement, so now a trial date has been set for April of next year. Anderson’s sister Kimberly Coats says the family even offered to bring his medication following his arrest, but were denied.
“Everyone has a right to be…to have their medication, even if they are in jail…if they are inmates.”
The family’s attorney says two medical doctors may be called to testify that Anderson’s death was preventable. Tuscaloosa County Attorney Robert Spence was unavailable for comment.