Over nearly two weeks, Richard Hall wasted away from a severe infection from an ulcer at a Howard County detention center under the eyes of staff. Court documents and video footage from the final hours of Hall’s life show that the 49-year-old, who had lost 15 pounds while at the detention center, was lying on the floor of his cell unresponsive.

Staff acknowledged through emails that Hall needed medical help, but they never sought appropriate care. On May 20, 2021, Hall died due to inflammation of the lining of his belly caused by the ulcer, according to court documents.

Dianne Bottino, Hall’s sister, said she found out he was in custody a few days after he was arrested on May 7 of that year following an incident near an Elkridge bar. She called the staff multiple times a day and had Hall’s doctor fax his medical records over, according to a lawsuit filed in March 2024 against the county and detention center. She knew her brother’s behavior at the detention center wasn’t normal.

“It’s unfathomable,” Bottino said. “He was suffering and needed help.”

Last year, the county settled with Hall’s family for $1.25 million in a case advocates say reflects a broader societal issue — that there isn’t a better system in place to help people during a mental health crisis. Hall’s death, the second in a 30-day span at the detention center, was preventable, said the attorneys for his family.

“This case in particular is exceptionally egregious, even amongst the many calls we get from people who have concerns about health care in the correctional environment,” said Cary Hansel, one of the attorneys representing Hall’s sister who has covered similar cases for more than 25 years.

Bottino said she doesn’t want anyone else to go through the pain her brother experienced and hopes the settlement leads to changes in how law enforcement respond to health crises.

Lawsuit alleges a series of failures

Hall’s family sued the county, alleging deliberate indifference, unreasonableness and gross negligence of correctional staff at the detention center.

Howard County representatives didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment before publication.

Bottino’s attorneys said a series of failures led to Hall’s death.

“Had the police not taken him to a detention center, had the detention center called 911 ... his life would have been saved,” Hansel said.

Hall was brought to the Jessup detention center after a man at Triple Nines Bar & Billiards in Elkridge called the police, asking them to remove a “crazy guy” at the “back door [who] was causing problems,” according to the written complaint.

Hall was charged with indecent exposure, trespassing and disorderly conduct, all nonviolent misdemeanors. He was denied bail because of his “obvious incompetency,” the complaint said.

Kristen Mack, another attorney representing the family, said Hall had no criminal history and no major medical issues. She said Hall wasn’t being aggressive when arrested but, according to the complaint, police told Bottino “calls were piling up.”

“They take him to the detention center, even though he should have probably been taken to the hospital, given what they wrote in their report, what they observed,” Mack said. “He gets to the detention center, and it’s very clear on intake that something’s going on with him.”

Howard County Police didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Mack said Hall wasn’t complying with commands, so the security chief did not let him go to his initial physical intake, which is supposed to happen after arriving at the detention center, according to county resources for detainees.

Detainees can also request medical attention and “are seen no later than 24 hours after submitting their sick call requests,” according to the county resources page.

On May 8, 2021, the day after Hall was booked, an officer noted he was suffering from a “severe mental health problem,” according to the complaint. On May 14, a doctor for the detention center did a cell-side assessment, according to the complaint, and noted Hall wasn’t sleeping, wouldn’t wear clothes and talked “nonsensically.”

On May 19, another doctor attempted to complete a physical examination, which was recorded as the “Initial Annual Health Assessment,” the complaint said.

In the nearly two weeks that Hall was detained, with staff checking on him every 15 minutes, his ulcer became infected, leading to sepsis, Mack said.

Corene Kendrick, the deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project, said Hall’s death represents a sad truth about services for people experiencing mental health crises.

“The case kind of reveals there’s that broader kind of societal issue going on, that there’s not a better system in place to help people when they’re having a medical crisis,” she said.

The whole point of frequent check-ins, she said, is so correctional and health care staff can monitor changes in behavior and bring it to the attention of a psychiatrist or doctor.

Kendrick added that good practice is “if the person is having some sort of medical or mental health issue, they shouldn’t be admitted to the jail, they should be transported to a hospital to receive treatment.”

That process is just basic correctional management, Kendrick said.

A sports fan who cheered for all

Hall was a Prince George’s County resident who had a long career in the logistics industry after pursuing his dream of attending Georgetown, according to his obituary.

Bottino remembers her brother as a person who accepted everyone. He made people feel included, and advocated for the underprivileged and anyone who faced adversity, she said. He also had a deep love of sports.

“He would travel great distances to watch his nieces and nephews play, he was their biggest cheerleader and their biggest fan,” Bottino said.

Her brother’s death affected her more deeply and more intensely than anything else in her life, she said.

There’s a need to educate law enforcement and emergency response personnel on mental health and determining when patients should be transferred to a medical facility, Bottino said.

There’s also an “immense opportunity,” Bottino said, for “improved communication with family or emergency contacts, especially when a person is not able to speak for themselves.”