CCA Pays $120,000 in Stabbing Death of Tennessee Prison Counselor
CCA Pays $120,000 in Stabbing Death of Tennessee Prison Counselor
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $120,000 to settle a lawsuit in the stabbing death of one of its employees, Delbert Steed, at Hardeman County Correctional Facility in Tennessee.
Steed was a Corrections Counselor who entered a pod on January 17, 2002, to counsel with various prisoners. While doing so, prisoner Stephen Huguely approached Steed from behind and began stabbing him with a “shank” fashioned from a piece of metal fencing.
Guards entered the pod to subdue Huguely, but they retreated when he began to attack them. Once the guards exited the pod to await assistance, Huguely returned “to complete the brutal stabbing of Delbert Steed,” who was stabbed in excess of thirty times. Steed died from his injuries.
The complaint by his estate alleged Huguely was an “extraordinarily dangerous and violent” prisoner who had “been involved in two knife-related incidents even while in prison, including his role in the death of an inmate in 1991.”
It was alleged CCA was liable in Steed’s death for not having guards trained and armed to “confront and disarm an enraged and armed inmate,” for not having “metal detection devices and/or other methods of detecting weapons carried or housed by inmates,” and for the pain, suffering, and loss suffered by Steed and his estate.
The October 2004 confidential settlement was obtained by PLN via public records request. Steed’s estate was represented by Jackson attorneys Steve Maroney and Jerome Teel.
See: The Estate of Delbert Steed v. Corrections Corporation of America, USDC, W.D. Tennessee, Case No. 1-03-1015
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
Related legal case
The Estate of Delbert Steed v. Corrections Corporation of America
| Year | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC, W.D. Tennessee, Case No. 1-03-1015 |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 120,000.00 |