The City of St. Louis will not represent several jail correctional officers and supervisors accused of neglecting a detainee in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Samuel Hayes Jr., who died in custody last year. Experts say that while the city can take the step, it is rarely done and exposes the city workers to personal liability.
Hayes died on July 19, 2025, after he was placed in a restraint chair at the St. Louis City Justice Center following an altercation with his cellmate, which public safety officials said started just after 8 p.m. that day. According to the lawsuit, jail employees restrained Hayes, 31, and two nurses briefly tended to him but then left him unattended while he convulsed and cried out for about 20 minutes.
When a worker arrived an hour and a half later, Hayes had stopped moving and was taken to St. Louis University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had been held at the jail for about a year on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, and never got the chance to go to trial…