David Stojcevski, 32, was sentenced to 30 days in Michigan’s Macomb County jail for failing to pay a traffic fine. He was addicted to drugs but the jail refused to treat him so he died. Reason reports that over the “next 17 days of his incarceration in a brightly lit cell — where he was denied clothing — he lost 50 pounds, suffered convulsions, and eventually began to hallucinate. He died in agony, from a combination of obvious, untreated drug withdrawal and galling neglect.” Jailers were able to see him on a security monitor the entire time, but they simply allowed him to suffer and die.
Stojcevski’s parents are suing the county. A lawyer for Macomb county said the suit “lacks legal merit,” and the county has no plans to settle.