Willis v. Barksdale

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GIBBONS, District Judge.

In this case plaintiff Kelly Jean Willis as next of kin seeks damages for the death of her brother Michael B. Lott, a pretrial detainee who died in the Shelby County Jail during the heat wave of 1980. Defendants in the case are Shelby County Sheriff Eugene Barksdale; William Coop, Chief Jail Administrator at the time of Lott’s death; and Shelby County. The case was heard by the court without a jury. The court has considered all the evidence in the case and the applicable law.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

Michael Lott was 26 years old in 1980. In March of 1980 he…