By Jack Tomczuk
City Hall must pay $1.5 million to the family of an inmate who died inside a Philadelphia jail in 2023, a jury ruled this week.
Louis Jung Jr., 50, a Type 1 diabetic, received sporadic insulin and blood-glucose checks in the 10 days he spent at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, following a stint at a psychiatric hospital.
An additional $170,000 in punitive damages was assessed to Philadelphia Department of Prisons Lt. Wanda Bloodsaw, who allegedly ordered two other incarcerated men to drag Jung back into his cell as he was dying of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Jurors reached the verdict against the city, Bloodsaw and former Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney late Monday, capping a federal civil trial that began Feb. 24. They sided with two of Jung’s adult sons, Jacob and James, who filed the lawsuit with the help of the Abolitionist Law Center (ALC).
“We’re happy with the verdict,” Jacob Jung, 25, said in a statement provided by ALC. “Our Dad wouldn’t have wanted us to back down. We fought to the end and are glad we won.”
“It was never about money. It was about justice for him,” added Louis Jung’s ex-wife, Evelyn Tyson, who remained close to him following the divorce. “They took him from us. The father of my kids. We will keep his memory alive, always. His name will be known.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration could appeal. A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department said they were reviewing the verdict and declined to comment.
Jung was incarcerated in December 2021 and charged with robbery, though that case remained unresolved at the time of his death. PDP knew of Jung’s diabetes; he had been hospitalized repeatedly during his time behind bars.
In 2023, he spent several months at Norristown State Psychiatric Hospital to determine whether he was competent to stand trial. Jung was transferred back to CFCF on Oct. 27 of that year, ahead of a scheduled court hearing.
At intake, a nurse measured his glucose level at 542 – well above the normal range – though he was not taken to the infirmary or an outside medical center, ALC attorneys stated.
Jung never received adequate care for his diabetes upon his return to CFCF and died Nov. 6, ALC attorneys asserted during the trial.
Jacob and James Jung, the executors of his estate, sued the city in October 2024. YesCare, a health care contractor for PDP, and medical staff who were initially named as defendants in the case reached a settlement agreement last month.
In her opening statement, ALC attorney Nia Holston argued that Jung’s death could have been prevented if correctional staff had not disregarded PDP policies and ignored clear signs of his deteriorating condition.
“This is a victory,” Holston told Metro during a phone interview Tuesday. “It cannot be understated how important it was to shed light on the horrors that have been happening at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons and how people have suffered.”
Holston said she hopes the verdict leads to substantive changes within the city’s jails, all of which are clustered along State Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
Jung’s death occurred as the prisons system was racked by a profound staffing crisis, escapes, a spate of inmate fatalities and violence in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August 2024, a federal judge ordered Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration to set aside $25 million to bring the jail system into compliance with the terms of a settlement stemming from a class-action lawsuit brought by inmates over prison conditions.
PDP continues to be monitored by the federal court in that case. A September progress report commended the department for an 83% drop in the number of backlogged medical appointments over a three-year period.