ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The family of an inmate who died in a northern Virginia jail has reached a wrongful death settlement with the county sheriff and the jail’s former health care provider.
Darryl Becton died at the Arlington County jail at the age of 46 in October 2020. An autopsy determined that he died from heart disease complicated by opiate withdrawal.
The lawsuit filed by his estate alleged that the jail and Corizon Health, a contractor that provided healthcare services there, failed to treat his withdrawal symptoms and showed deliberate indifference to his medical needs.
The defendants said they placed Becton on a standard protocol to observe and treat withdrawal symptoms and that the heart arrhythmia that caused his death was unexpected.
On Jan. 31, the two sides filed a proposed settlement in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. Neither the sheriff nor Corizon admit wrongdoing, but they agreed to pay $1.325 million to settle the case.
The settlement spells out that the estate’s lawyers will receive $325,000 plus expenses and that five children and beneficiaries of Becton’s estate will split the remaining $900,000.
The settlement still must be approved by a judge.
The sheriff dropped Corizon as its contractor in 2021.