The surviving family members of a Butler County woman who died while incarcerated in 2019 in the Westmoreland County Prison claims staff at the lockup failed to prevent her from overdosing while she was in their custody.
According to an amended complaint filed this month in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the wrongful death lawsuit alleges Elizabeth Fantino consumed illegal drugs while in the jail and was found dead in her cell two days after she was transferred there from the Butler County Prison.
Westmoreland County never publicly disclosed her death.
Fantino, then 52, of Cranberry was arrested by authorities in Butler County on Sept. 12, 2019, and while incarcerated underwent medically supervised treatment for withdrawal symptoms from illegal drug use.
Three days later she was transferred to Westmoreland County, where she was scheduled to appear in court for a probation revocation hearing related to a drug conviction from 2016.
The lawsuit, which named as defendants Westmoreland County, prison staff and the company that until last year provided medical services at the lockup, claimed Fantino was scanned for contraband and medically assessed when she entered the Hempfield facility before she was placed in general population.
According to the court filing, Fantino was briefly treated in the medical unit and returned to her cell during the evening of Sept. 15.
The lawsuit alleges Fantino complained of illness but was not observed by guards during several security checks throughout the day and was found unresponsive in her cell at dinnertime. Attempts to resuscitate her with Narcan were unsuccessful.
Court records indicate that an autopsy determined Fantino died of acute combined drug toxicity. Fentanyl, Zoloft, methamphetamine and amphetamines contributed to her death, the lawsuit states.
“Had Elizabeth remained in (drug withdrawal treatment) and had been given proper management of her withdrawal symptoms, she would not have sought contraband to feed her cravings, as evidenced by her proper conduct while an inmate at (Butler prison), when she was receiving proper detoxification treatment,” the complaint states.
John Walton, who was warden at the Westmoreland prison when Fantino died, resigned in 2020.
Lawyers for Westmoreland County denied the lawsuit’s allegations in court filings.
Westmoreland County solicitor Melissa Guiddy on Thursday declined to comment on claims made in the lawsuit.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .