Lawsuit after Suicide in State Correctional Institution

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 2, 2021 /Prnewswire/ -- On December 4, 2019, Dominic Ingle, 24, of Lancaster, PA, hanged himself in his cell at the State Correctional Institution in Camp Hill (SCI-CAMP Hill), Pennsylvania. He died 11 days later from injuries sustained due to his suicide. Today, his father, Joseph Mcquaid, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, alleging gross negligence by the administrators, staff, correctional officers and medical personnel at SCICAMP Hill. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Ingle's struggles with mental illness were well-documented, yet these individuals ignored his need for treatment and protection, resulting in his tragic death. Representing Mr. Mcquaid is Peter Greiner of the Philadelphia-based law firm, Zarwin Baum.

Mr. Ingle's suicide is part of an epidemic of suicides in Pennsylvania state prisons. This problem came to light after a 2013 lawsuit filed by the Disability Rights Network documenting inadequate mental health care and treatment of Scicresson inmates. This lawsuit was followed by a U.S. Department of Justice investigation in 2014 that found the lack of adequate mental health care was widespread across the state prison system. Finally, over the four-year period from 2015 to 2019, the number of inmate suicides per year more than doubled from eight to nineteen. In fact, at SCICAMP Hill, two other inmates killed themselves by hanging in January and June 2019.

"Mr. Ingle's suicide in December 2019 was not an anomaly, but was part of an ongoing, systemic breakdown that has continually failed those with serious mental illness within the Pennsylvania State Prison system," Attorney Greiner said. "The system failed Dominic Ingle and, if nothing is done to change this prison suicide epidemic, many more will suffer the same tragic death."

Mr. Ingle's mental health issues were welldocumented and diagnosed. In fact, Mr. Ingle had attempted suicide and was in the hospital recovering from his injuries when he was taken back to SCI-CAMP Hill on a probation violation. Upon his admission to SCICAMP Hill, Mr. Ingle's suicide risk was ignored, diminished, and generally neglected by everyone and a system that failed to adequately protect and treat inmates with serious mental health issues.