Missouri to pay $150,000 to settle lawsuit over prisoner’s death by suicide

Missouri must pay $150,000 to the mother of a man who committed suicide in a Southeast Missouri prison, a Mississippi County judge ruled Friday.

Jahi Hynes was 27 when died April 4, 2021, at the Southeast Missouri Correctional Center in Charleston. His mother, Willa Hynes, sued the Department of Corrections, three of the agency’s corporate contractors and 15 individuals in 2024 after forcing the release of records about her son’s death from the department.

In the settlement, the department does not admit any liability for Jahi Hynes’ death and Willa Hynes agreed to drop her claims against all the defendants, including the private contractors.

Associate Circuit Judge Blake Pearson approved the settlement in a brief hearing that came 10 months after the previous judge in the case sanctioned the department and threw out its defense for repeatedly violating court orders to produce records

Under the terms of the settlement, Willa Hynes will receive about $80,000 and her attorneys will receive $60,000 plus the expense of litigation.

“She’s had to wait a long time to get here, and had to fight hard to get here,” attorney Steve Groves said. “But we’re glad the case got resolved, so Miss Hynes can finally get some peace.”

The lawsuit alleged that corrections officials and contract medical personnel ignored Jahi Hynes’ mental health needs and disregarded department rules for the safety of people in administrative segregation.

Jahi Hynes was placed in administrative segregation on April 3, 2021, after allowing the food port door in his cell to strike the hand of a corrections officer, causing minor injuries, and blocking the port with his mattress. 

The next day, he hanged himself with a bedsheet.

Hynes’ death is one of more than 630 in department custody from 2021 to 2025, according to records compiled by the Missouri Justice Coalition. The department has been reluctant to release records on the deaths, which reached a record of 139 in 2024.

The highest profile case is the death of Othel Moore on Dec. 8, 2023, in the Jefferson City Correctional Center. Three former corrections officers face criminal charges for assault, with two also charged with second degree murder and the third charged with involuntary manslaughter. Charges against two corrections officers were dropped after they were filed in June 2024.

A hearing is scheduled for Monday in Jefferson City to set a trial date for the three charged in Moore’s death.

The Sunshine Law violations in Hynes’ case cost the department $60,000. The sanctions that removed the department’s defense did not strike the defenses of the individual plaintiffs or the department’s medical contractor.

When the settlement was reached, both sides initially sought to block the terms of the agreement, and the amount paid to Willa Hynes, from disclosure. The motion initially asked Pearson to remove the filings about the settlement and Willa Hynes’ affidavit accepting from the record and to keep the amount confidential.

The Independent objected to those actions in a letter to Pearson. Missouri court rules do not provide for the removal of records in a case but do allow them to be sealed if the plaintiff has sufficient reason.

The Missouri Sunshine Law has a blanket ban on confidential settlement payments.

The parties engaged in new negotiations after receiving the letter. All the settlement documents were placed in the court records and all are public.

The settlement’s statement about liability in the case is a blanket release.

“No actions taken by the parties hereto, or any of them, either previously or in connection with this agreement shall be deemed or construed to be an admission of the truth or falsity of any matter pertaining to any claim or defense alleged in the pleadings filed on behalf of the parties in the lawsuit, or an acknowledgment by any of the parties hereto of any liability to the other parties or to any person for any other claim, demand, or action, all liability being expressly denied by the parties,” it states.

Willa Hynes’ affidavit affirms that she is Jahi Hynes’ only living relative and that she is “satisfied my attorneys have fully investigated the facts and circumstances of his death” and that she accepts the settlement.

“I believe,” the affidavit states, “the terms of the settlement and distribution are fair and reasonable and should be accepted.”