Mother challenges suicide ruling after her son died at Rockview state prison
The mother of a man who died nearly two years ago while incarcerated at Rockview state prison filed a lawsuit Tuesday that challenged the finding he died by suicide.
Denise Woods, of Philadelphia, alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit that extensive injuries and bruising on her son’s body were “wholly unexplained.” The suit did not offer a more detailed description.
The April 2023 death of Richard Woods, 46, was ruled suicide by hanging. The state Department of Corrections said he was found unresponsive in his cell and died at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
He was the fourth man incarcerated at the prison to have his death ruled a suicide in a span of seven weeks. Bobbi J. Salamon, who was named as a defendant, has been the prison’s superintendent since March 2021.
“Our position is that it is deeply troubling that four people died in one institution in six weeks under dubious circumstances and little, if anything, seems to have been done, including to the managerial structure of the institution,” Woods’ attorneys Steve T. O’Hanlon and Israel A. Schwartz wrote Thursday in an email to the Centre Daily Times.
A DOC spokeswoman declined an opportunity Thursday to respond to the lawsuit, writing in an email that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Woods also argued her son’s reported hanging death was “nearly impossible” because the sheet around his neck was tied to a bed and his feet would have touched the ground.
Her attorneys put forward a theory her son was assaulted by fellow inmates with gang affiliations, something he complained of earlier the month he died. They also claimed a possible factor in his death were the more harsh conditions in the restricted housing unit and solitary confinement.
Prison staff, the lawsuit alleged, were deliberately indifferent to Woods’ well-being. His mother is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Woods had been at the prison since June 2003. He was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in Philadelphia.