INMATE DIES FROM POISONED COFFEE IN SING SING & HIS FAMILY RECIEVES $725,000!

The family of a Sing Sing inmate who died after his coffee was spiked with a powerful hair remover will get a $725,000 payout from the state.

Car thief Rodney Williams, of Babylon, L.I., was 20 years old and just three weeks away from being sprung in 2003 when someone sprinkled Magic Shave powder into his drink.

The inmate, who did not see a doctor for three hours, died after needless hours of pain and suffering, a Court of Claims judge ruled last week.

Williams repeatedly told guards that a fellow inmate had poisoned him, but they were slow to get him medical help, wrote Judge Terry Jane Ruderman.

"Had Williams received medical care in the morning hours of October 9, 2003, he would have had a significant chance of survival," the judge wrote.

The hair remover - used instead of razors in many prisons - contained barium, which in its soluble form can be used to kill rodents, according to an expert called by Williams' lawyers, Alan Fuchsberg and Elena Carter.

"Poison control should have been called, blood work should have been performed and IV fluids should have been administered," the judge wrote.

Williams was taken to the prison infirmary around 5:45 a.m. and died around 9:15 a.m.

Despite his vomiting and suffering abdominal pain, he did not see a doctor until 8:45 a.m., his lawyer said. "No one wanted to be bothered to call a doctor in the middle of the night," Fuchsberg said.

Guards told a nurse that Williams was drunk, the judge wrote.

State officials said guards reacted properly to Williams' symptoms. No one has been charged in the coffee-spiking.

Williams' aunt, Kimberly Hartley, recalled a fun-loving boy who made some mistakes but was eager to get out and restart his life.

"They must get so many people in there who are crying wolf, but when it comes to someone in real danger, they need to be more careful," Hartley said. "They're human beings, too."


SOURCE