Cleveland County detention officers and Turn Key Health Clinics staff refused care, falsified records and mocked Shannon Hanchett as she descended into an ultimately fatal mental health crisis in late 2022, according to an amended complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on Sept. 9.
The filing comes weeks after the U.S. District Judge Bernard Jones granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Shannon Hanchett’s widower Daniel Hanchett, ruling on Aug. 19 that there was insufficient evidence to show jail staff were deliberately indifferent. In his ruling, Jones gave Daniel Hanchett’s attorneys 21 days to file an amended complaint outlining new evidence.
Referencing closed-circuit video footage that remains shielded from the public under a federal protective order, the 73-page filing details Hanchett’s deteriorating mental and physical health as jail staff refused to provide care. As county officials sought to withhold access to the footage, the initial complaint filed in January was based on medical records.