The Oregon Department of Corrections will pay $2.3 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of a 22-year-old man who died by suicide while being held in solitary confinement at the Oregon State Correctional Institution in Salem.
Grayson James Allen Painter died on June 29, 2023. His mother, Jennifer Painter, filed the suit against the state and several Department of Corrections employees in December 2024. Painter’s suit said the DOC violated its own policies and failed to monitor her son’s mental illness.
“Our family still needs so much more time to heal,” Jennifer Painter said in a statement. “Grayson meant the world to me and his brother, and our lives will never be the same after what happened. No settlement or verdict will bring him back, but it’s my sincere hope that this result not only causes ODOC to change their ways but reminds everyone that they have rights and dignity that can and should be vindicated.”…