Family settles wrongful death lawsuit after inmate's suicide

BIG RAPIDS (AP) — Relatives of an inmate who died after hanging himself in a Michigan jail cell have settled a lawsuit that alleged a deputy was watching Monday Night Football on TV instead of monitoring the man.

MLive.com reported last Thursday that the federal wrongful death lawsuit against Mecosta County, the sheriff’s office and the deputy was settled for $160,000.

Raymond Paul Holmes died in 2015—two days after being taken from the Mecosta County Jail in Big Rapids to a hospital.

The lawsuit said the deputy was watching the Sept. 14 game with other inmates. It also says he had to retrieve his keys while the 32-year-old Holmes was hanging from a bed frame.

The newspaper reports that Holmes was arrested in August 2015 on drug charges.