Family of woman who died in county jail may sue

MILLVILLE – The estate of a city woman who died in custody at Cumberland County Jail in the spring has filed a legal notice reserving its right to sue the jail and the county.

A tort notice was filed April 27, a month after 24-year-old Alissa Allen was found unresponsive in her jail cell in Bridgeton.

Allen was arrested by city police the evening of March 19 and taken to the county jail. She was found unresponsive in her cell by authorities on March 22.

A tort notice isn’t a lawsuit. It serves as an official notice that a lawsuit may be filed. State law requires a plaintiff to file a tort notice before suing a municipality or governmental agency.

The notice, filed by the office of Philadelphia-based attorney Conrad J. Benedetto, was addressed to Cumberland County Warden Robert Balicki.

“There’s been no decision made at this time,” Benedetto told The Daily Journal on Thursday in reference to whether or not Allen’s family plans to sue.

The attorney said his office is currently conducting its own investigation into the incident.

The tort notice lists Balicki, jail officers and medical staff as employees at fault for Allen’s death. The notice was filed well before the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office wrapped up its investigation, which ended nearly three weeks ago.

The county jail is accused in the notice of failure to protect, negligence, cruel and unusual punishment, wrongful death and civil rights violations.

The Prosecutor’s Office ruled at the end of its investigation that Allen’s death did not result from a crime. Authorities also didn’t dispute the findings of a medical examiner, which ruled she died by hanging herself with a sweater.

Allen’s family have disputed the findings since receiving her death certificate.

The family believed her death may have been related more to what she appeared to ingest while sitting in the back of a Millville police cruiser the evening she was taken into custody.

Allen was a passenger in a truck March 19 that was pulled over for having no tail lights. The arrest happened on the 1000 block of North High Street. Allen was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and also had a warrant for a shoplifting incident in 2012.

Chris Torres; (856) 563-5264; ctorres@thedailyjournal.com