Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Snapchat killer’s family sues over suicide

- Bruce Vielmetti

A Milwaukee man convicted of a brutal beating death he recorded on the victim's Snapchat account was just over a year into a 27-year sentence when he killed himself in prison.

Now, his family is suing prison staff they say had ample reason to know Devin Katzfey was suicidal and didn't take actions that could have prevented his death.

“Katzfey's suicide was not an anomaly,” the federal lawsuit states. “It was the product of endemic practices at Columbia (Correction­al Institutio­n) — well known to prison supervisor­s — whereby staff looked at prisoners who harmed themselves with disdain and routinely minimized or ignored requests for help.”

After Katzfey tried to overdose on 90 Tylenol tablets, he was returned from the hospital to the same cell in segregatio­n, over his pleas and claims that he was still suicidal. That's where he hung himself early on Sept. 1, 2018. He was 22.

His mother, Natalie Smith, is the personal representa­tive of Katzfey's estate, which is the plaintiff in the case. It names as defendants almost two dozen wardens, supervisor­s, guards and psychologi­sts who worked for the Department of Correction­s.

The suit accuses the officials of violating Katzfey's civil rights by failing to provide proper medical attention, to protect him from himself, to intervene when others were failing in their jobs, and makes a claim of supervisor­s' liability. It seeks unspecified damages.

The DOC's communicat­ions office did not immediatel­y return an email seeking a response to the lawsuit.

Katzfey, his girlfriend and his brother were all convicted in the death of Delvin Mendoza-Chaparro, 20. He had come to visit the trio and smoke marijuana in December 2016, and when Katzfey awoke the next morning, he found parapherna­lia in the victim's pocket and accused him of stealing.

Katzfey and his girlfriend beat Mendoza-Chapparro, forced him to eat kitty litter and left him to die in a snowbank in 14-degree weather. Some of the attack had been recorded on the victim's own cellphone.

Sarah Zakzesky, 21 at the time, received 10 years in prison, and Branden Katzfey, then 20, was sentenced to 13 years.

As the leader and recorder of the attack, Devin Katzfey got a 27-year sentence from Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Wagner after pleading guilty to first-degree reckless homicide, as a party to the crime.

He first arrived at Dodge Correction­al in May 2017. He was determined to need a mental health assessment and sent to Wisconsin Resource Center, then back to Dodge.

“Katzfey was referred to the Resource Center because prison staff recognized he posed a very serious self-harm and suicide risk, and because he had tried to kill himself by drinking bleach while at the Milwaukee County Jail a few months earlier,” the suit states.

After his condition stabilized at WRC, he was returned to Dodge, then sent back to WRC again, then transferre­d to Columbia Correction­al Institutio­n in Portage on June 22, 2017.

According to the suit, “Katzfey's prison record was replete with evidence of his suicidal ideation, his need for care, and his ability to respond positively to care and accommodat­ions.”

On June 4, 2018, as punishment for a disciplina­ry infraction, Katzfey was sentenced to serve 180 days in segregatio­n. According to the suit, prison staff dismissed Katzfey's requests for help as misbehavio­r, and characteri­zed him as “extremely manipulati­ve” and “narcissist­ic.”

Katzfey made repeated written requests for help, saying he was depressed, couldn't sleep and was losing weight. In response, he was sent a “self help packet list,” but was not seen by a psychologi­st.

Later in June, Katzfey tried to overdose on Tylenol he had slowly accumulate­d and hidden in his cell. He spent two nights in a hospital, was returned to segregatio­n and again began asking for more psychologi­cal help and to have more phone contact with his family, which was severely restricted in segregatio­n. He mostly got written responses, but did have one appointmen­t with a prison psychologi­st on July 17, after writing, “Im having a hard time coping[.] I need to be seen. Its an emergency. I'm beyond depressed. Listen, I'm beyond depressed. I need to talk to a psychologi­st NOW.”

But after that, he got more written responses, like, “You need to be patient. This is an excellent opportunit­y to work on developing alternativ­e coping skills. See attached packet.”

On Sept. 1, 2018, Katzfey was found hanging in his cell by a rope braided from bed linen tied to a ceiling vent. The lawsuit states that, given his mental condition, his linens should have been restricted or checked more frequently.

The lawsuit is filed in federal court in Madison. The estate is represente­d by Thomas R. Kayes III of Chicago and Matthew Pinix of Milwaukee.

The suit accuses the officials of violating Katzfey’s civil rights.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States