"He begged these people, He was at their mercy." Sacramento Jail Accused of Ignoring Black Man Vomiting Blood for 12 Hours before he died

From [HERE] The family of a California man who bled to death in the Sacramento County jail has filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming jailers didn’t help the inmate even though he was vomiting blood for 12 hours before he died.

The Sacramento Bee reported the 17-page federal lawsuit was filed electronically on Saturday by a lawyer representing 48-year-old Mark Anthony Scott’s mother and three sisters. The suit blames inadequate Sheriff’s Department policies, practices and training for Scott’s death last January.

Scott’s pleas for help were met with silence, derision and indifference, according to the lawsuit, and the unchecked vomiting led to a torn esophagus, internal bleeding and death.

"I looked in Mr. Scott's cell. Mr. Scott was sitting on the bed and there was blood in the toilet and around the collar of his shirt," said Seamus Strother in January 2012.

Strother was on the same cell block as Scott in the Sacramento County Jail, and he wrote us right after Scott's death to say Scott didn't get needed medical attention while in his cell.

After the incident, jail staff said they were not told that Scott was vomiting blood any time prior to his death or in the immediate aftermath. But Strother said both Scott and his cell mate used their cell’s intercom system repeatedly to call for help.

"They came in, they just basically told us he passed-away, they didn't know why," said a member of Mark Scott’s immediate family who did not want to be identified.

"He begged these people, Ben. He was at their mercy."

The Scott family is filing an internal affairs complaint, calling for an investigation into his death. They believe he was left to bleed by an uncaring jail staff.

Their attorney is Stewart Katz.

"The coroner’s report never mentions the blood all over the walls, the blood on the floors, the paper bags he’d been vomiting blood into,” Katz said. [MORE]