A coroner has ruled that it was not criminal conduct that led to the death of 39 year old R&B singer Sean Levert, who, as previously reported, died from complications related to an inflammatory lung disease whilst in prison. His widow Angela Lowe filed a wrongful death lawsuit back in June, claiming that his death could have been avoided if he had been given his medication, which he had brought with him to the Cuyahoga County Jail, but which was seemingly ignored.
In the latest development, prosecutor Bill Mason has ruled, following an internal investigation by the Sheriff's department, that there had been no criminal wrongdoing prior to Levert's death. However, Lowe's lawyer Dennis Niermann says he isn't surprised by the conclusion, and adds that the ruling has no impact on his client's wrongful death lawsuit. He told reporters: "It is a finding of no criminal wrongdoing and the lawsuit we have filed focuses on civil wrongdoings ... one has absolutely nothing to do with another". Lowe's civil suit will therefore proceed, contending, as it does, that Levert was not given adequate nursing or mental health assessment, and that the Sheriff's department failed to notify the prison's pharmacy of Levert's need for his medication.
It may turn out, though, that predetermined procedures rather than any individual's incompetence led to Levert's death. Investigators have reportedly interviewed the jail's Health Care Services Manager Christine Dubber, who told them that inmates are not allowed to take the drug in question, Xanax, until they've been evaluated by a prison psychiatrist, and that Levert wasn't due to be evaluated until 8 Apr, fifteen days after entering the jail on 24 Mar. Dubber added: "Due to the volume of inmates and the level of severity, the schedule is based on need".
Levert, the son of O'Jay Eddie Levert and star of R&B eighties trio LeVert, was just beginning a 22 month sentence for failing to pay child support when he died.