Mother files $50M claim over Yakima jail death of son, alleged cover-up

YAKIMA – The mother of a man who died after a struggle with Yakima County jail guards last year has filed a $50 million tort claim against the county, accusing the jail of causing her son’s death and alleging an attempted cover-up.

The claim says Hien Trung Hua received inadequate care while suffering from a severe mental health crisis and then was shackled, beaten and held prone by guards, causing his Nov. 24 death.

Filed Monday on behalf of Hua’s mother, Loan Kim Duong, the claim also says the county tried to obscure the circumstances of Hua’s death by telling his family and the public that the death was natural.

A tort claim is a precursor to a lawsuit that seeks compensation for damages. Hua lived with his mother “virtually his entire life,” Duong’s claim says, describing the value of their bond as “almost incalculable.”

Duong’s claim points a finger at Yakima County Coroner Jim Curtice, who along with a forensic pathologist concluded that Hua, 41, died only from heart problems that began before his struggle with guards.

Last weekend, a Seattle Times story detailed the steps leading up to Hua’s death and compared them to how Curtice was treated when he was arrested during a mental health crisis eight months earlier. Experts told the Times that Hua’s struggle with guards likely caused or contributed to his death.

After the Times questioned Yakima forensic pathologist Jeffrey Reynolds this summer about aspects of Hua’s case, including surveillance videos from the jail, Reynolds watched the videos for the first time and changed the manner of death in Hua’s autopsy report from natural to “negligent homicide.”

The Times story illustrated how decisions by police, jails and health care providers can yield disparate outcomes. It also highlighted how dangerous jails can be and revealed gaps in the oversight of Washington jail deaths.

Last year, an internal investigation by the jail found the guards used reasonable force with Hua. A county review committee decided the overall handling of the incident was unfortunate but “professional and appropriate.” Police found the guards used “minor force.” The county prosecutor took no action.

Police haven’t reopened their investigation of Hua’s death since Reynolds revised his findings. The county prosecutor hasn’t commented.

Curtice admitted to police last month he had taken illicit drugs from dead people in the course of his work and snorted the drugs in his office.

Yakima County officials, including the jail’s director and Curtice, didn’t respond Wednesday to a request for comment about Duong’s claim.

What the claim says

Hua was arrested for misdemeanor assault Nov. 18 after he kicked his mother during an argument and a neighbor called 911.

The police reported that Hua was experiencing a mental health crisis; his mother said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder; Yakima’s city jail refused to book him, citing his mental health issues; and staff at the county jail where he ended up knew about his mental health issues.

The jail should have sent Hua to a mental health facility or hospital but instead put him in its general population, Duong’s claim says. When other incarcerated people asked for Hua to be moved from their bunk room and he didn’t immediately leave with guards, the guards treated him “as an inmate who was misbehaving,” rather than someone in crisis, the claim says.

Videos show the guards pepper-spraying Hua less than a minute into their interaction, tackling him, wrestling with him as he fought back, chaining his wrists and ankles behind him and carrying him through the jail horizontally.

At no point before he was sprayed did Hua act aggressively, Duong’s claim argues, saying Hua backed away “with his hands up in fear.” The claim says certain guards delivered “powerful knee strikes” to Hua’s chest as they carried him through a hallway and then placed him facedown on the floor, violating the jail’s use of force and restraints policies.

That’s when he stopped moving and breathing. The jail’s internal investigation didn’t address how Hua was positioned when he became unresponsive, but a nurse and a guard reported that he was on his stomach.

The jail’s custody manual says uses of force should account for a person’s mental state and says “restrained inmates shall not be placed facedown.” When an agitated person held on their chest can’t breathe in enough oxygen or out enough carbon dioxide, their heart may stop pumping, experts say.

“These actions directly caused Mr. Hua’s death,” Duong’s claim says, going on to accuse the county of an “attempt to cover up” Hua’s demise by labeling it a natural death. Law enforcement officers visited Duong’s home on the day her son died and told her he hadn’t been beaten, the claim adds.

The claim says Hua was treated worse than Curtice, who was detained after an altercation with sheriff’s deputies while intoxicated and in crisis on March 10, 2023. The coroner, a white elected official, was hospitalized rather than jailed, wasn’t criminally charged and retained his job, the claim says.

“If Mr. Hua had been treated in the same manner … he would still be alive today,” Duong’s claim says, also suggesting Curtice may have felt compelled to mishandle Hua’s case to protect the county officials who protected him.

The news about Curtice and drugs raises more concerns, the claim says.

Consent decree

Duong’s claim says Hua was “hogtied.” That term means “fastening together bound or restrained ankles to bound or restrained wrists,” according to a ban on the practice passed by Washington lawmakers this year.

Hua was put in leg and ankle chains that were connected by another leg chain. The jail’s internal investigation asserted Hua wasn’t “hogtied” because his wrists and ankles weren’t pulled close to each other. The connecting chain was long enough that Hua could have walked, the investigation said.

In an email to the Times, however, Reynolds, the forensic pathologist, referred to Hua as having been hogtied.

Hua’s death came at a time when the Yakima County jail was winding down a court-monitored plan to improve conditions for people with mental illness.

The county signed the consent decree with Disability Rights Washington in 2018 after the nonprofit alleged constitutional violations, arguing the jail was failing to provide incarcerated people with proper screening, mental health care and housing. The plan said the jail would staff mental health professionals, create specialized housing units and train guards to avoid the use of restraints on people with mental illnesses, among other things.

By June 2023, the jail had reduced solitary confinement and ensured incarcerated people were getting mental health care within set timelines.

Disability Rights agreed to terminate the decree about three weeks before Hua died and the case was officially closed about two weeks after the death.