GOSHEN – The family of Niki Capaci, a 40-year-old mother of seven children, has filed a federal lawsuit against Orange County and its jail medical contractor, claiming their negligence led to the death of the woman on May 6, 2023.
The attorneys representing the family said Capaci reported to the jail right after being taken into custody on May 3, 2023 that she had recently used drugs and required withdrawal management.
They allege over the next three days she repeatedly went to the jail’s medical unit in a deteriorating physical condition which indicated the detox given by the jail was ineffective. After three days in custody, she was found dead.
The autopsy conducted by the county said she died from drug intoxication. But, the attorneys allege that drug withdrawal can be fatal unless carefully managed. They say that jails have protocols to ensure that inmates are given proper detoxification and monitoring and if they fail to follow those, jail personnel can be held liable.
The lawsuit filed in federal court on June 19, 2024, alleges jail personnel as well as Wellpath, a company that contracts medical care to the county jail, failed to follow their own protocols and were “deliberately indifferent to Ms. Capaci’s serious medical needs.”
The family is seeking compensatory damages for personal injuries, pain and suffering, emotional distress, wrongful death, economic damages and other harm in an amount to be determined at trial.
They are also seeing punitive damages in an amount determined at trial.
