Christina Hall | Detroit Free Press

The son of a Detroit man is suing Macomb County, four sheriff's deputies, a nurse and unnamed corrections officers alleging that they failed to care for his sick father, who died months after the comatose man was taken from the jail to a hospital.

Malik Jeter, son of Andrew Antoine Jeter, filed the complaint July 26 in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

It seeks more than $75,000 in damages and is being handled by Geoffrey Fieger and Gina Puzzuoli.

Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press

The county disputes the allegations. "There's more to this case than is reflected in the plaintiff's complaint. Mr. Jeter passed away 10 months after leaving the Macomb County Jail from a host of medical conditions, none of which were caused by the jail," County Corporation Counsel John Schapka said.

James Harrington, an attorney with Fieger's law firm, said when they FOIA'd for records and video, they received a seven-page document and no video.

"I'm very, very concerned this is a case that's going to go down the path of a cover-up," he said. "The records that existed are not being produced."

Read more:

According to the complaint, Andrew Jeter, 41, was jailed after being found unresponsive in his vehicle and was noted to be lethargic and mumbling.

When Jeter was booked, the complaint states, he had symptoms of needing immediate medical treatment and asked to see a doctor.

On Dec. 11, 2016, the complaint states, Jeter was staggering and could barely talk. A request for medical treatment and his and loved ones' pleas for help were ignored, according to the complaint.

Two days later he fell to the ground near his cell door and was verbally unresponsive. Deputies called a nurse and discussed what to do. They lifted him off the floor, put him in a wheelchair and took him to the clinic, but by the time he got there, he was unresponsive and placed on the floor. An ambulance was called when he was "entirely unresponsive," the complaint states. He was finally hospitalized.

The complaint says he had pneumonia, severe infection, including sepsis, chronic respiratory lesions and COPD.

Jeter was comatose and dependent on a ventilator until his death Oct. 30, 2017, says the complaint, which lists four counts including violation of civil rights, cruel and unusual punishment and gross negligence and/or wanton and willful misconduct.

"There have been several deaths of inmates at the Macomb County Jail believed to be the direct and proximate result of Defendants complete failure to train and supervise corrections officers and/or medical staff and to discipline corrections officers and/or medical staff for the violations of policies, procedures, laws and the violations of inmates’ civil rights,” the complaint states.

The county has been sued in federal court in other inmate deaths, including Jennifer Meyers, 37, who died in 2013 at the jail from sepsis, and David Stojcevski, 32, of Roseville, who died in 2014 after withdrawal from prescription drugs.

Stojcevski, who was in custody for a traffic violation, lost 50 pounds in the days leading up to his death, which was caught on video. The FBI investigated his death, but federal authorities found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.