Independence man’s family sues over his 2022 jail suicide

The family of an Independence man who died by suicide in jail in 2022 is taking Buchanan County to court.

Relatives of Jaden Antoine Johnson, formerly of West Union, assert the Buchanan County Jail was found in violation of state standards for monitoring prisoners both before and after he was found unresponsive in his cell in 2022. The wrongful death suit alleges the jail failed to protect Johnson from self-harm.

The lawsuit was filed May 6 in Buchanan County District Court. Last week, attorneys for the county asked the matter be moved to U.S. District Court instead.

The suit was brought by parents Ashley and Douglas Johnson, who are administrators of Jaden’s estate. They are represented by attorney Mark Roeder of Manchester. Named as defendants are Buchanan County, Sheriff Scott Buzynski, Jail Administrator Steve Vine, Correctional Officers Miles Hogan and Jenny Hingten and county Supervisors Gary Gissel and Don Shonka.

Jaden Johnson was in jail in connection with a vehicle that was reported stolen in Independence and became involved a chase in Hardin County in May 2022.

Two days after his arrest, Johnson had a phone conversation with a friend, during which he was crying and “expressing thoughts of self-harm,” according to the suit. The friend contacted jail staff and told them Johnson was suicidal, and she was told staff would watch over him, the records state.

Johnson, 19. was kept in the jail’s general population and wasn’t checked on for two hours — during which time he hung himself with an extra pair of jail-issued pants sometime late May 7 or early May 8, 2022, the suit states.

The suit alleges jail staff didn’t follow state rules and county policies that mandate regular checks on inmates. Under the policy, the staff are to make observations of each prisoner every hour, and those with mental or medical conditions are to be personally checked every 30 minutes, according to the lawsuit.

The suit alleges the jail was found in violation of this rule in July 2019 during an Iowa Department of Corrections inspection that recommended corrective action. The inspection found several jail checks were well in excess of the hourly time frame.

“Staff advised the cause of the delays were due to, at least in part, the number of prisoners that currently or recently been incarcerated and the number of staff on duty at any given time,” the report states. The report recommended the jail complete an analysis to determine proper staffing levels.

Two months after Johnson’s death, the jail inspector again noted a failure to conduct hourly checks, according to the lawsuit.

The suit alleges the jail didn’t screen Johnson for the risk of suicide and didn’t remove additional clothing from his cell. It alleges the county supervisors failed to enforce the jail inspector’s recommendations.

The county, represented by attorney David Schrock of Cedar Rapids, hasn’t filed a formal response to the suit.