13 Investigates: Inmate's last days were 'nothing short of living hell,' lawsuit claims

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A civil lawsuit filed this week alleges the final days of an inmate who died of diabetic ketoacidosis were "nothing short of a living hell as his blood glucose levels rose to dangerous levels with no means for him to protect himself."

13 Investigates first started looking into 28-year-old Matthew Shelton's death last year.

Shelton turned himself into the Harris County Jail on an old DWI charge on March 22, 2022. Photos obtained by Shelton's attorney shows the inmate arrived at jail with his diabetic supplies but died five days later of diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition caused by a lack of insulin.

The federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Harris County, which oversees the jail, and Harris Health System, which overseas healthcare at the jail. It alleges Shelton, a Type 1 diabetic who depended on daily monitoring of his glucose levels, did not receive proper accommodations for his disability as required by the Americans With Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

"Medical care is a service offered to all detainees by Harris County and Harris Health at the Harris County Jail for purposes of the ADA Title II and the Rehab Act. As a detainee in the Harris County Jail, Mr. Shelton was 'qualified' to access each of these programs and services," the lawsuit read. "Mr. Shelton was entitled to reasonable modifications to (the county and health system's) policies and practices - i.e. being provided with insulin and regular blood glucose monitoring - so that he could live to access the Jail's housing and classification, recreation programs, vocational programs, meals, supervision and detention to be brought to court."

13 Investigates previously reported on concerns regarding Shelton's treatment in jail.

SEE ALSO: 13 Investigates: Report shows dead inmate looked like he was 'laying on himself for hours'

Now, this lawsuit provides a closer look at the timeline of events, according to John Flood, the attorney representing Shelton's family.

The lawsuit claims the jail's health professionals treated Shelton twice for "dangerously high blood sugar" - once a few hours after he turned himself in on March 22, 2022, and again about 3:20 a.m. the next day.

Flood said March 23, 2022, was the last time he received medical care.

"They don't ever check him again," Flood said. "When he was booked in, they took his insulin away from him, so he never has access to his own insulin, and he's completely dependent on the jail officials providing him with insulin."

Harris Health System told 13 Investigates, "While we are passionate about maintaining and improving the health of the people we serve, we are not able to comment on active litigation."

Although the Harris County Sheriff's Office was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, 13 Investigates reached out to them for a comment as well.

"Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on pending litigation. Any further comments will need to come from the Harris County Attorney's Office," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

13 Investigates reached out to the Harris County Judge's Office, who told us it doesn't comment on active litigation.

"What we hope the county is going to respond with is, 'We are sorry and we must be held accountable for this unconscionable treatment that we had of Matthew.' Anything short of that, what we intend to do is to go to court and to ask for an amount of damages that will guarantee that the county understands the consequences of torturing somebody like this in their own jail," Flood said.

SEE ALSO: State calls out jail after 28-year-old diabetic Harris County inmate dies

Anytime an inmate dies at a county jail, it has to be reported to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which oversees whether state standards were met.

Last December, the state concluded that documentation reviewed after Shelton's death "revealed that while insulin was reviewed, ordered, and provided while the inmate was at intake, it was not reviewed, ordered, and provided once the inmate was housed."

Flood said his understanding of the policy in place when Shelton was booked is that it only allowed inmates to receive medication for a 24-hour period, including medications like insulin, which some individuals have to take daily.

"They knew what the policy was. They knew Matthew was an insulin-dependent diabetic. He was not eating. He was telling them, 'I'm not going to eat,' so they knew," Flood said. "They knew that he needed the insulin, and they knew that their policy resulted in him not receiving the insulin."

Flood said even though medication could be offered for a 24-hour period, during Shelton's last four days at the jail before he died, he did not receive insulin at all.

"The system was there to only sustain a person for a day, and when he didn't get that first day (dose), there was no other day after that followed (that he received the medication)," Flood said.

Although Harris Health did not comment on this week's civil suit, it told ABC13 earlier this year that the timely delivery of medications is something it has been working on since taking over last March.

Last year, 27 Harris County inmates died - the highest in a decade. The jail population was also the highest it had been in a decade, with nearly 10,000 inmates locally and hundreds more outsourced to other counties.

This year, 11 Harris County inmates have died. The population this week is 9,481 inmates, according to the county.

SEE ALSO: 13 Investigates: Decade-high inmate deaths just one concern at Harris Co. jail

Harris Health System took over healthcare services for the county jail in March, less than a month before Shelton died. Leadership previously told ABC13 they knew they "inherited some risks" when taking over, but that they have invested time in being proactive when it comes to potential issues with inmate care.

Flood told us he believes the jail has since changed its policy to make it easier for inmates to receive medication, such as insulin, for multiple days.

Still, he said that hasn't taken away the family's pain, which is reignited every time they learn more details about what happened during Shelton's final days.

"It's a day-to-day struggle. Matthew was a beloved brother, son, uncle, and, you know, and in their mind, he was a human being," Flood said. "When human beings check themselves into a jail, they are giving themselves their freedom over to the jail, and Matthew tragically did this voluntarily. He turned himself in to try to right a wrong, from a DWI in the past, to pay his debt and (his sister) Sarah and his mom, Marianna, were looking forward to a new chapter in his life. And so it's really, really, really hard."

For updates on this story, follow Kevin Ozebek on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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