SACRAMENTO — A mother is suing Fresno County and others, alleging wrongful death and negligence after her son's body was found hanging by a sheet in the Fresno County Jail.
Wilma Deloney filed a complaint Oct. 4 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against the county of Fresno, Corizon Health Inc. et al., alleging they breached professional standards of care and treatment.
According to the complaint, on Aug. 2, 2016, the body of Deloney's son, John Mayberry, was found hanging in Fresno County Jail, causing Deloney to lose the financial and emotional support, love and companionship of her son. The suit says the defendants showed deliberate indifference to Mayberry's serious mental health needs and safety, which resulted in his long-term suffering and ultimately his death by suicide.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants failed to properly train staff in the proper detention and supervision of inmates, acted recklessly to life threatening physical, medical and/or psychiatric condition, and forced Deloney to engage the services of private counsel to vindicate her rights.
Deloney seeks trial by jury, general, special and punitive damages in a sum according to the proof, attorney fees, injunctive relief, cost of suit, and all further relief the court deems just and proper. She is represented by attorneys John L. Burris, Benjamin Nisenbaum and James Cook of Law Offices of John L. Burris in Oakland.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California case number 17-C-01336