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Family of Deaf Inmate Sues Maryland Corrections Over 2022 Jail Murder

Understaffing coupled with inadequate disability accommodations rendered Gantt vulnerable to a violent cellmate, the lawsuit contends.

FILE - Officers stand outside the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center, May 12, 2005, in downtown Baltimore. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark, file)
A memorial set up for Javarick Gantt held by his mother, Quinette Gantt, in Florida.
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Overview

  • On June 10, Gantt’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court seeking over $50 million in damages.
  • The complaint alleges officials overrode screening protocols and placed Gantt, who used sign language, in a cell with convicted killer Gordon Staron.
  • It states corrections officers falsified security logs and skipped overnight patrols, leaving Gantt’s cell unmonitored when Staron strangled him on October 8, 2022.
  • Attorneys assert that Gantt was denied basic disability accommodations including a sign language interpreter and was misclassified for medium‐security general population housing.
  • The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has not commented or released internal investigation records despite repeated requests.