WARNING: This article has information of death in prison care and may be disturbing to some readers.If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.   

A lawsuit alleging racism and negligence has been filed by the estate of a Black man who died while in custody at a Vermont prison. 

The suit alleges the Vermont Department of Corrections, along with its agents, failed to diagnose Kenneth Johnson and treat a tumor which led to his by asphyxia in the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport. According to an Associated Press report, the suit alleges wrongful death and medical malpractice from the department and Virginia-based Centurion Health discriminated against Johnson, 60, due to his race. 

In a report released by law firm Downs Rachlin Martin, the firm found DOC staff should have done more to help Johnson, who reportedly complained repeatedly that he could not breathe. Staff response was deemed insufficient to keep him from dying from a breathing obstruction caused by a tumor, leading the firm to suggest better training. 

The law firm’s attorney, Tristram Coffin, during a press briefing said looking at surveillance and the factual background leads to the “inescapable” conclusion that more should have done. 

“It just is not sufficient that an inmate complains persistently and credibly of not being able to breathe for a period of some hours consistently, does not see a doctor, does not go to the hospital and then later on dies apparently from breathing complications. That is just not as a policy matter how Vermont should be conducting its business,” Coffin adds. 

The department has requested for the firm to conduct an investigation into his death, and a separate personnel review by the state will be conducted. 

The AP report adds that in July, the Vermont defender general’s office released a report stating Newport prison staff ignored Johnson’s pleas and threatened him instead of assisting him.