Suit over Texas woman’s jail death settles for $7 million

Apr 27, 2023, 8:15 AM

FILE - This undated photo provided by Mike Austin shows his wife, Holly Barlow-Austin, in Texarkana...

FILE - This undated photo provided by Mike Austin shows his wife, Holly Barlow-Austin, in Texarkana, Texas, before her 2019 death after being held in a Texarkana jail. A private company that ran the Texas jail where Barlow-Austin allegedly went blind following days of medical neglect before her 2019 death has agreed to a $7 million lawsuit settlement, her family's attorney said Thursday, April 27, 2023. (Mike Austin via AP, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(Mike Austin via AP, File)

DALLAS (AP) — A private company that ran a Texas jail where a woman allegedly went blind following days of medical neglect before her 2019 death has agreed to a $7 million lawsuit settlement, her family’s attorney said Thursday.

The payout over other deaths and incidents that led to lawsuits and investigations of the company, which runs facilities where thousands of people are incarcerated.

“If you’re going to cut corners and put profits over people’s lives, there will be a steep price to pay,” said Heipt, a Seattle-based lawyer who represents Barlow-Austin’s husband and mother. He said the payout ”should serve as a wake-up call to all private jail and prison operators.”

The family’s federal lawsuit was resolved ahead of a trial after more than two years of litigation. They had claimed that LaSalle guards and medical staff at the Texarkana jail ignored obvious signs of Barlow-Austin’s worsening health, falsified records, deprived the 46-year-old of food and water and only took her to the hospital after it was too late.

They sued LaSalle along with Bowie County and several guards and medical staff at the Bi-State Jail. Court records do not show details of the agreement, including what share of the settlement was paid by which of the defendants. Heipt said the specific terms were confidential.

Lawyers for LaSalle — which runs facilities in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia — and Bowie County did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The county sheriff’s office took over management of the jail in 2021, after a decade of LaSalle running it.

In April 2019, Barlow-Austin was arrested for a parole violation by police in Texarkana, a city that straddles Texas’ northeastern border with Arkansas.

She arrived at the jail with serious health conditions, including HIV, but normal vital signs and full mobility, according to the suit. It said she left the facility “blind, emaciated, and barely able to move.”

Over a period of days guards and medical staff didn’t check on her or, when they did, ignored her calls for help and water, according to the suit. It also says staff falsified observation logs — something state inspectors found they had done in another case that was settled.

The family of Michael Sabbie reached an undisclosed settlement with LaSalle two months before Barlow-Austin died in a hospital. They alleged in a lawsuit that company employees at the same jail deprived him of medications and treatment for his heart disease and diabetes.

In 2017, LaSalle also agreed to a pleaded guilty to misdemeanor negligent homicide.

In a statement Thursday, Barlow-Austin’s mother and husband, Mary Margaret Mathis and Glenn Austin, said they hope the settlement in their case “will save some lives in the future.”

United States News

FILE - Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions con...

Associated Press

Wisconsin Republicans look for rebound, Democrats stay on offensive as 2024 fights loom

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin once again be a battleground. Democrats, recognizing that four of the past six presidential elections in the state have been decided by less than a percentage point, are trying not to become overconfident in the face of recent gains. They are gathering for their annual state convention starting June 10 […]

21 hours ago

Associated Press

Michigan wildfire prompts evacuations, threatens multiple buildings

GRAYLING TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A wildfire in Michigan burned more than 1,000 acres (1.5 square miles) and prompted emergency evacuations and road closures Saturday, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The wildfire located within Grayling Township, about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Grayling, is moving west and southwest and threatens multiple […]

21 hours ago

Associated Press

16 South American migrants who entered US through Texas flown to California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sixteen Venezuelan and Colombian migrants who entered the country through Texas were flown to California by chartered plane and dropped off outside a church in Sacramento, Gov. Gavin Newsom and migrant rights advocates said Saturday. The young men and women were dropped off Friday outside the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento […]

21 hours ago

Associated Press

Florida woman charged with child neglect after her car catches fire as she was allegedly shoplifting

OVIEDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman faces charges of aggravated child neglect and arson after her car became engulfed in flames while she was allegedly shoplifting at a mall, according to an arrest report. Alicia Moore, 24, parked her car in a parking lot outside a Dillard’s department store at Oviedo Mall on May […]

21 hours ago

(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

Associated Press

US, allies clash with Russia, China over North Korea’s failed military spy satellite launch

The United States and its allies clashed with Russia and China on Friday over North Korea’s failed launch of a military spy satellite this week in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

21 hours ago

Associated Press

What led Capitol Police to stop a youth performance of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’

Video of a children’s choir singing the national anthem in the U.S. Capitol, only to be unceremoniously cut off by police, spread across social media on Friday. Capitol Police say singers from Rushingbrook Children’s Choir from Greenville, South Carolina, were stopped May 26 because of a miscommunication. Musical performances in the hallowed seat of Congress […]

21 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...

Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.

Suit over Texas woman’s jail death settles for $7 million