Ex-inmate sues over death of newborn

Lawsuit says jail staff didn’t notice her labor

A former Milwaukee County inmate whose newborn baby died in jail has filed a federal lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office and its health care provider.

Shadé Swayzer, who gave birth in July without any jail or medical staff noticing, alleges the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, corrections officers and medical contractor Armor Health Correctional Services were negligent and liable for the death of her daughter, Laliah. Lawyers for Swayzer filed the federal lawsuit Friday.

Four people have died at the Milwaukee County Jail since April, including Laliah and an inmate who died of dehydration. Investigations into all four deaths remain active. No investigating agency has said whether it believes jail or medical staff contributed to the deaths.

The office of Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., which runs the jail, has released little information about Laliah’s death. Sheriff’s officials said Swayzer never called for help before giving birth — an account Swayzer disputes. An autopsy report obtained by Wisconsin Watchdog, a Madison-based conservative media outlet, shows the newborn’s manner and cause of death are undetermined.

In the lawsuit, Swayzer’s lawyers said an unnamed corrections officer ignored Swayzer’s plea for help at about 12:15 a.m. on July 14. Swayzer gave birth around 4 a.m., and officers didn’t notice during rounds of the unit around 5 and 5:30 a.m., her lawyers said. At 6 a.m., an officer spotted Swayzer concealing the child and intervened. The newborn was pronounced dead about an hour later.

In their complaint, Swayzer’s lawyers wrote the defendants’ inaction “shocks the conscience, was reckless, and demonstrates a deliberate indifference to the consequences of their refusal to provide Shadé and Laliah medical care.” They said officers, who knew Swayzer was 33 weeks pregnant, improperly placed her in a maximum-security cell, where she was locked down for 23 hours per day.

“To put her in a max-security unit, to me, is unbelievable,” Jason Jankowski, one of Swayzer’s lawyers, said in an interview Saturday.

Swayzer is suing Armor for a failure to adequately train staff. It’s unclear from available documents what role, if any, Armor staff were expected to play in monitoring of Swayzer overnight.

An independent, court-appointed monitor overseeing medical care at the jail has questioned whether too few officers are monitoring inmates, and whether that contributed to the newborn’s death. The Sheriff’s Office has since said it plans to hire 70 more corrections officers, according to the monitor.

A Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said the agency doesn’t typically comment on pending litigation. In previous court filings, lawyers for the Sheriff’s Office have said any suggestions that jail or medical staff contributed to the deaths “represent conjecture at this point.”

In a statement, Armor officials said they “always mourn the loss of life” but are unable to comment on the newborn’s death due to federal privacy laws.

“We would encourage a thorough review of all available information, including the coroner’s report,” Armor said.