Federal judge approves settlement over death of Mississippi County inmate

A federal judge has approved a settlement of a wrongful-death lawsuit against embattled Mississippi County Sheriff Cory Hutcheson and others.

Judge John Ross signed an order earlier this week.

Under the settlement, the City of Charleston, Missouri, will pay $75,000 and Mississippi County will pay $195,000 as the result of the death of Mississippi County Detention Center inmate Somer Nunnally in 2015. She died after less than 14 hours in custody, according to the federal lawsuit.

Hutcheson, who faces numerous unrelated criminal charges in his role as sheriff and is no longer running the sheriff�s department, was jail administrator at the time of the incident.

The suit claimed jailers did not offer proper medical care for the 21-year-old Nunnally after an overdose and let her die in her cell.

The suit was filed on behalf of the woman�s two young children by the children�s father, Devin Arnold. Michelle Nunnally, the mother of the deceased inmate, was later added as an intervenor in the case.

Both Arnold and Michelle Nunnally stated in a court document the proposed settlement is �fair and reasonable.�

The suit alleges jailers who worked for then-jail administrator Hutcheson and Charleston police officers failed to provide adequate medical care to Nunnally.

Besides Hutcheson, defendants included the county government, then-Sheriff Keith Moore, detention officers Josh Cooper, Sally Gammons Yanez and Chris Wooten, the City of Charleston and Charleston public-safety director Robert Hearnes and officers Curtis Arnold, James Williams and Brent Douglas.

As part of the settlement, defendants have denied they were negligent or at fault in the death of Somer Nunnally.

According to the lawsuit, Nunnally had purchased prescription narcotics and/or other pills illegally before her arrest and had ingested �a large number of pills� before the officer arrived on the scene.

Nunnally was arrested about 6:25 p.m. May 2, 2015, after the vehicle she was driving ran over a trash can.

Jail staffers also were aware of Nunnally�s condition, the suit alleged.

At 6 a.m. May 3, 2015, Nunnally was found to be unresponsive, and no pulse was detected, the suit stated.

Ambulance personnel were called to the jail and found no heart activity, the suit states.

Coroner Terry Parker concluded Nunnally died from mixed-drug intoxication, according to the suit.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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