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| Va. Jail Neglected Sick Prisoner, Inmates Say |
| By The Winchester Star |
| Published: 09/05/2003 |
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Some Regional Jail weekend inmates believe prison officers mishandled events surrounding the Saturday death of a fellow inmate. Mark Allen Hornung, 37, was serving part of his six-month sentence as a weekend inmate at Regional Jail when he went into cardiac arrest early Saturday morning. He was pronounced dead at 6:55 a.m. Darrell R. Gilley, of Bluemont, was sleeping next to Hornung when he went into cardiac arrest. Gilley said Hornung had sleep apnea and a heart condition and was supposed to receive medication but never did. He said he asked Hornung what he should do if Hornung stopped breathing in the night and that Hornung said to yell at him and shake him. Gilley said jail officers should have known Hornung had a medical problem and took too long to respond once Hornung went into cardiac arrest. “He felt clammy, so I needed to get somebody in there,” Gilley said. “I was beating on the window trying to get their attention and all three of them were staring at me like I was crazy. After a few minutes one of them decided to help me.” Gilley said a main concern of his is that Hornung never received medication for his medical condition. “I did not witness anyone coming in and giving him any of his medication, even though I know it was there at the facility,” Gilley said. “His girlfriend did bring it in.” Gilley was one of two dozen inmates who signed a letter stating they believe prison officers waited too long to respond when the inmates yelled for help. The letter also accuses the officers of neglecting to perform CPR or attempting to revive Hornung. Regional Jail superintendent Fred D. Hildebrand said prison officials are conducting a routine internal investigation into Hornung's death. He said claims that personnel responded slowly are untrue. Hildebrand also said he was unaware if Hornung was required to take medication for medical problems, but that if he needed it, medication would have been distributed by a nurse or medical officer instead of being self-administered by Hornung. Hildebrand did not know when the investigation would be complete. The exact cause of Hornung's death is unknown at this time. An autopsy is being conducted by the Virginia Medical Examiner's Office in Fairfax, but is not complete. |
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