Trial News

Uniece Fennell, 16, was arrested and placed in the Durham County Detention Facility with adult detainees charged with serious violent felonies. While she was detained, her twin brother passed away. This prompted correctional staff to place Fennell, who had a history of depression and mental health treatment, on suicide watch. Within four days, she was returned to the women’s unit.

There, a group of women along with one of the corrections officers allegedly bullied Fennell, telling her she was going to die in prison. Fennell also was physically assaulted and antagonized. Her attorney sent an email to jail staff regarding this behavior; however, staff allegedly dismissed the attorney’s claims.

Fennell later hanged herself on her window bars.  She is survived by her mother.

Fennell’s mother, on behalf of her estate, sued the county and several corrections staff members, alleging failure to provide her daughter with mental health care, protect her from adult inmates, and remove suicide hazards from the jail, in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The plaintiff asserted that the window bars Fennell used to take her life had been identified as a suicide hazard and that others had hanged themselves at the facility before Fennell.

The defense argued that Fennell was considered an adult under North Carolina criminal law.

The parties settled for $650,000.

Citation: Graves v. Durham Cnty., No. 1:19-cv-00316-TDS-JLW (M.D.N.C. Apr. 19, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: Ivy Johnson and Ian Mance, both of Durham, N.C.; and Hank Ehlies II, Greenville, S.C.