Brother of Washington Co. inmate who died in 2023 sues jail
The brother of a Bentleyville man who was left “festering alone in his cell” inside the Washington County jail before later dying at the hospital is suing prison officials and the facility’s health care provider claiming they let the inmate languish for days without proper medical care.
Robert Murin filed the federal lawsuit Jan. 30 on behalf of his brother, Andrew Murin, who suffered severe health problems while incarcerated and was allegedly not given proper treatment at the jail in the days leading up to his death on Feb. 9, 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that Bentleyville police arrested Andew Murin at his borough home Sept. 13, 2022, after he suffered a mental health crisis, prompting him to be hospitalized. During the incident, a struggle ensued and officers apparently used a Taser on Murin to subdue him, the lawsuit states. According to the lawsuit, Murin was taken to the Washington County jail 10 days later due to the struggle with police, although it’s unclear what he was charged with since no records appear on the state’s online judicial database.
Over the next three months, the lawsuit claims Murin was “given little to no medical care” for a bleeding ulcer and he eventually contracted pneumonia while being lodged at the jail. On Feb. 1, 2023, Murin was “festering alone in his cell, seated upright in a chair, in an isolated mental health ward of the Washington County Prison, when he slumped over.”
Only after that did a jail employee attempt to render medical care to Murin, the lawsuit states, and he was later taken to a local hospital and placed on life support before dying nine days later.
The lawsuit names jail Warden Jeffrey Fewell, along with several employees and Harrisburg-based PrimeCare Medical, which serves as the facility’s contracted health care provider.
“Based upon information and belief and the Death investigation report by the Washington County Coroner’s Office, Defendant Fewell was personally aware of the decedent, where he was housed, his mental health capacity, and the medical treatment or lack thereof the decedent was receiving at the Washington County Jail,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims the jail did not provide proper psychological care for Murin’s mental health care needs, and that PrimeCare was paid a “flat fee” through its contract, meaning it allegedly was “incentivized” to provide the least amount of medical care.
The lawsuit, which was filed at the federal courthouse in Pittsburgh, asks for more than $150,000 in damages and legal fees paid to Murin’s estate. No contact information was listed for Robert Murin, who resides in Mesa, Ariz., and a phone call left for his Philadelphia-based attorney, Brian Zeiger, was not returned.
Fewell declined comment and directed questions to county spokesman Patrick Geho, who did respond to an email about the case. County solicitor Gary Sweat said on Monday that he had not yet read details of the case, so he could not comment on the lawsuit. During Tuesday’s county commissioners agenda setting meeting, Sweat said defense of the lawsuit had been turned over to the county’s insurance carrier.
Attorneys with PrimeCare Medical in Harrisburg could not be reached for comment this week.