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Hampton Roads Regional Jail wrongful death lawsuit settled

Posted at 6:26 PM, Jul 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-25 22:56:17-04

Photo of Henry Stewart.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The wrongful death lawsuit pertaining to the death of 60-year-old Henry Stewart has ended in a $625,000 settlement.

According to court records, Hampton Roads Regional Jail will pay $100,000 and Correct Care Solutions (jail’s health care provider) will pay $525,000 for the 2016 death of Stewart.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring called for a federal investigation into the jail after the death of Stewart, who allegedly died two days after cleaning up his own bloody vomit.

Former inmate Brent Lashley said Henry Stewart was throwing up blood, sometimes multiple times a day, and repeatedly asking for a doctor.

“He was stepped over like an animal and at that point, I knew it was not going to end well,” said Lashley.

Lashley said he is haunted by what he saw inside the Hampton Roads Regional Jail.

He said he was in a cell near 60-year-old Stewart who died inside the jail on August 6, 2016.

“For the last two weeks of his life, I saw him throw up blood daily, on a daily basis. The last three or four days it was multiple times a day,” said Lashley.

The family showed News 3 at the time an emergency grievance form they say was in a bag full of Stewart’s possessions that were returned to the family when he died.

The document indicated that Stewart had blacked out twice in 24 hours and couldn’t hold down water or food. He wrote he didn’t know how many emergency grievances he had written with the same reply — wait on your appointment.

Two days after the grievance was apparently written, Stewart was dead.

Related links: 

Former inmate describes graphic treatment of man who died in jail

Man pleads for medical help, then dies in Hampton Roads Regional Jail