GREENE COUNTY, Ark. — Representatives of Atiyana Willis’ estate filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday alleging jail personnel ignored her requests for medical assistance and that failures in medical care, training and supervision caused or contributed to her death.
The lawsuit names Greene County Sheriff Brad Snyder in his individual and official capacities, along with 10 unidentified defendants. It comes one day after Snyder announced he had fired nine jail employees following his preliminary review of Willis’ death.
Willis, 18, died Sept. 22 after a medical emergency at the Greene County Detention Center.
Trial lawyer Luther Sutter represents the family. NEA Report independently confirmed the lawsuit was filed October 1 through the court’s official recent-filings feed.
Victor Britt and Kimberly Britt brought the lawsuit as co-special administrators of Willis’ estate. The case number is 3:26-cv-00276-DPM.
The complaint alleges Willis was awaiting trial when she experienced observable signs of medical distress. It says her condition was communicated to jail personnel through repeated requests for help and direct observations.
Despite those warnings, the unidentified defendants failed to obtain medical assessments, summon emergency services, communicate her symptoms or take other necessary steps, the complaint alleges.
“The Does responsible for Willis’s custody failed to respond appropriately as her condition deteriorated, including by failing to call EMS,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint does not identify Willis’ specific symptoms or a medical cause of death. Its claims about the denial of care and its role in her death are allegations.
The lawsuit also challenges how nursing care was provided at the jail. It alleges licensed practical nurses were required to make decisions outside their permitted scope of practice and that Snyder failed to correct the problem or hire a registered nurse.
“Had a Registered Nurse been employed, Willis would not have died,” the complaint asserts.
The plaintiffs allege deficiencies in recognizing medical emergencies, monitoring deteriorating patients, communicating medical complaints, obtaining qualified evaluations and promptly requesting emergency services.
The unidentified defendants include officers, employees, supervisors or others alleged to have participated in denying or delaying care. The complaint says their names and individual conduct will be identified through discovery. It does not establish that those 10 defendants are the same people as the nine employees Snyder fired.
The lawsuit cites two earlier Greene County jail deaths — Garrett Lee Evers in 2019 and Marshall Price in 2022 — as evidence that county officials had notice of medical-care problems.
Both deaths occurred before Snyder took office in January 2023, the complaint acknowledges. The plaintiffs contend the resulting lawsuits nevertheless put him on notice of deficiencies that remained uncorrected before Willis’ death.
The complaint seeks damages for alleged constitutional violations involving denial of medical care, Snyder’s supervision and county policies or practices. It requests a jury trial, compensatory damages, punitive damages against individual defendants where warranted, and attorney’s fees and costs. It does not specify a dollar amount.
In an interview with NEA Report on Wednesday night, before the lawsuit was filed, Snyder said staff failed to assist Willis.
When NEA Report told Snyder that his account amounted to saying the sheriff’s department was responsible for an inmate’s death, he replied, “Understandable. Yes.”
Snyder subsequently said the medical findings remained unresolved and described failures by his staff as unacceptable.
He said none of the nine fired employees were medical personnel. He identified the jail’s medical provider as Turn Key and said that, to his knowledge at the time, there was no issue involving the provider in this situation.
Turn Key is not named as a defendant in the complaint.
Snyder’s Wednesday comments preceded the lawsuit and did not address its specific allegations about nursing practices, training or supervision.
In his public announcement of the firings, Snyder said he had personally reviewed video and documentation and ordered immediate retraining for all jail employees.
As of Wednesday night, Snyder said Arkansas State Police were continuing their independent investigation and he had not received autopsy results.
NEA Report attempted to reach the sheriff on Thursday prior to the publication of this report but was not successful.
Lawyer Luther Sutter returned our call just prior to publication and stated the following:
“People with disabilities deserve at least equal treatment,” Sutter said. “They don’t deserved to be warehoused in a jail where they die. If its the last thing I do, I’m going to stop this from happening to people with disabilities.”
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