The mother of one of the men killed inside the Bent County Correctional Facility nearly three months ago brought a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against CoreCivic, alleging that her son’s homicide was the result of a “profound failure” by the private prison company.
Read more FDA approves landmark pancreatic cancer drug that’s shown to improve survival
Amber Gates, the mother of slain inmate Charles Gates, 27, alleges CoreCivic employees failed in their duty to keep prisoners safe.
Her son and a second inmate, Michael Fisher, 59, were killed June 6 inside the rural prison. The men were missing for hours, prompting prison officials and sheriff’s deputies to conduct a search both inside and outside the facility. Their bodies were eventually discovered inside the prison around 1:30 a.m. on June 7.
A third inmate was seriously injured but survived, though no one called for an ambulance for nearly two hours after the missing men were found.
Charles Gates’ body was found in the fetal position inside a lidded gray plastic tote, according to his autopsy report. His eye had been removed and he suffered more than two dozen small puncture wounds to his face. Gates died from suffocation, according to the autopsy, which ruled the death a homicide. He also suffered injuries to his neck, head, chest and upper extremities.
“The manner in which Mr. Gates was killed, the location of his body, the delayed discovery of the missing inmates and the delayed medical response reflect a profound failure by Defendants to maintain the safety and security of the facility,” attorneys wrote in the 18-page complaint filed in Denver District Court.
Ryan Gustin, a spokesman for CoreCivic, which contracts with the Colorado Department of Corrections to run the prison, said Wednesday that the company operates “pursuant to contractual requirements, applicable laws and regulations, correctional standards, and oversight by our government partners.”
Read more Tim Curry, iconic character actor and ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ star, dies at 80
“We are deeply saddened by and take very seriously the passing of any individual who has been in our care,” he said in a statement.
Prison officials believe two suspects participated in the June 6 attack, but the suspects have not been charged or publicly identified. Spokespeople for the Colorado Department of Corrections and CoreCivic have said nothing about how the killings unfolded or how the men’s bodies went undiscovered for hours.
Amber Gates, who lives in Florida, alleges in the lawsuit that prison officials failed to take reasonable measures to keep her son safe and protect him from violence at the hands of other prisoners.
CoreCivic employees failed to properly supervise the prisoners, failed to maintain adequate staffing, took too long to discover that Gates and Fisher were missing and took too long to call for medical aid, the complaint alleges.
“We are still gathering information and do not yet know all of the facts surrounding what happened, but the information presently available raises serious concerns that require careful investigation,” Adam Gleason, an attorney for Amber Gates, said in a statement Wednesday.
Gates was serving time in connection with several different cases; his longest sentence was a nine-year term for a 2023 motor vehicle theft in Douglas County.
Read more The US and Canada could pull back from an all-out trade war. It’s not clear that they will
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
