Lenawee County inmate's death leads to lawsuit

8/12/2013

ADRIAN, Mich. — There’s a tentative deal in a federal lawsuit over the alcohol-withdrawal death of a woman who was in custody at the Lenawee County jail in Adrian.

Brenda Sue Smith, 37, was arrested for parole violation in 2007. She went through severe alcohol withdrawal for three days but didn’t get treatment until she lost conscious and died at a hospital.

The Daily Telegram reports that the county’s insurer reached a deal in April, and Dr. Jeffrey Stickney remained the only defendant without a settlement. A lawyer for Smith’s child now has until Sept. 13 to approve the deals with Dr. Stickney and the county.

In 2011, U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit said that there’s evidence many people could have helped Smith.