A lawsuit has been filed by the family of a Gilmer County teen who died while in custody.
“We are aware of the lawsuit,” said Gilmer County Attorney David Clark. “But, the county has yet to be served.”
Alexis Sluder, 16, was taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton during the evening of Aug. 26, 2022, by the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, according to a statement by Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Tyrone Oliver.
“While at the facility, she became unresponsive,” said Whitfield County Coroner Greg Bates.
He said the teen was transported by ambulance to Hamilton Medical Center where she later died.
“The youth began experiencing an adverse reaction from what RYDC staff learned was an illegal substance she ingested before her admittance into our facility,” said Oliver’s statement.
Five Department of Juvenile Justice employees were indicted by a Whitfield County Grand Jury in the death of a Gilmer County teen. The indictments were handed down September 2023.
Maveis Brooks, a sergeant, 35, of Calhoun, Russell Ballard, a cadet, 62, of Chatsworth and Rebecka Phillips, an officer, 45, of Chatsworth were all indicted on two counts of first-degree cruelty to children and a count of second-degree cruelty to children, according to a release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Monica Headrick, a nurse, 62, of Ringgold, and David McKinney, detention center director, 53, of Rome, were both indicted on a count of second-degree cruelty to children.
The parents of Sluder, Melanie Hogan Sluder and Ricky Shawn Curtis, have filed a wrongful death suit against Brooks, Phillips, Headrick, McKinney and Ballard, individually and as an agent of the State of Georgia, Gilmer County, and Sharon Ellis in her individual capacity and as an agent of Gilmer County, according to a press release from Romanucci & Blandin LLC and The Boone Firm P.C., who are representing the family.
“This is what happens when sworn officers fail to uphold their duty to protect and serve and when government entities fail to maintain processes that ensure the health and safety of the people in their custody,” said Sam Harton an attorney with Romanucci & Blandin.
“All she needed was to go to the hospital, and these government employees could not even bother to pick up the phone and call 911. They were unreasonable. They were indifferent. They were cruel. Alexis deserved better.”
Sluder’s mother said she was lost without her daughter.
“Lexie had hopes and dreams,” Melanie Hogan Sluder said.
“She planned on becoming a teacher one day. I am lost without her, and not a minute goes by that I don’t think about her and what she would be doing.”