Female prisoner beaten, paralyzed by Florida prison guards, alleges lawsuit
Cheryl Weimar, a 51-year-old inmate at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Florida, filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections for 'life-threatening injuries' that left her paralyzed.
A female inmate who requested medical assistance inside a facility near Orlando was instead beaten “within an inch of death” by male guards, a lawsuit filed this week alleges, in what her attorney is describing to Fox News as the “worst case of prison abuse in Florida I’ve ever seen.”
The complaint filed in district court Tuesday accuses the Florida Department of Corrections and four John Does of leaving Cheryl Weimar paralyzed as a result of the “serious and life-threatening injuries, including a broken neck,” that she suffered in an Aug. 21 attack inside the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala.
“She is going to need lifelong care, around-the-clock care for the rest of her life,” said Ryan Andrews, an attorney whose firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of Cheryl and her husband, Karl.
“It was one of the most sad meetings with a client I ever had – she couldn’t talk… I had to write the alphabet out so she could nod and wink and tell me what to do,” he told Fox News. “It’s the worst case of prison abuse in Florida I’ve ever seen.”
A photo of Cheryl Weimar before her incarceration. The alleged attack by the prison guards caused her 'to suffer life-threatening and permanent injuries, including a broken neck', a lawsuit says. (Courtesy Ryan Andrews)
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Weimar has been incarcerated since 2016 and the guards were aware of her history of physical and mental disabilities, the lawsuit says.
The 51-year-old was arrested after she slashed her ex-boyfriend with a knife and resisted arrest. She was sentenced to six years and is scheduled to leave the prison system in early 2021.
On Aug. 21, Weimar was asked to clean a toilet at the Lowell facility as part of a work detail — but a pre-existing hip condition that caused her pain rendered her unable to do so, according to the lawsuit.
She allegedly requested and was denied a “reasonable accommodation for her physical disability in connection with her prison work assignment” and “a confrontation ensued.”
The Florida Department of Corrections says the officers accused of carrying out the attack 'have been reassigned to posts that do not have contact with inmates, pending the outcome of this investigation.' Weimar is still in custody, but is being treated at a local hospital. (Florida Department of Corrections)
“Under FDC policy and procedure, prison officials should have called medical personnel to intervene once Plaintiff Cheryl Weimar declared an inmate medical emergency,” the lawsuit says. “The more Plaintiff Cheryl Weimar complained of her physical condition, the more angry, aggressive, and violent the John Doe Defendants became. “
Eventually the guards snapped, according to the lawsuit.
“One or more of the John Doe Defendants slammed Plaintiff Cheryl Weimar to the ground” and “while down, they brutally beat her with blows to her head, neck, and back,” it continues. “At least one John Doe Defendant elbowed Plaintiff Cheryl Weimar in the back of her neck, causing her to suffer a broken neck.”
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The guards then allegedly dragged Weimar “like a rag doll to a nearby wheelchair, allowing her head to bounce along the ground along the way” before taking her “outside the compound so they could continue their brutal attack in an area that was not covered by surveillance cameras.”
The lawsuit says Weimar is now a quadriplegic who has to breathe and be fed through tubes. She is seeking “compensatory damages, including for permanent physical injury, disfigurement, and emotional pain and suffering… for attorney’s fees and costs incurred in connection with this litigation, and for such other relief as this court deems appropriate.”
It also alleges that Weimar’s civil rights were violated under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – which protects Americans from cruel and unusual punishments – the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
Weimar is pictured here with her husband, Karl. He has ' suffered mental anguish, loss of support, lost benefits and other financial spousal remuneration, and loss of capacity for enjoyment of life' the lawsuit says, as a result of the alleged attack. (Courtesy Ryan Andrews)
The Florida Department of Corrections told Fox News it couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, but the guards alleged to have been involved in the incident have been reassigned to positions where they have no contact with inmates, pending the outcome of the investigation.
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“We recognize that preliminary reports from this incident are concerning,” the department’s secretary, Mark Inch, said in a statement to the media in late August. “We’re committed to examining all the details regarding this situation and ensuring appropriate action is taken.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is the lead agency investigating the claims, told Fox News that it can’t provide any details as the probe is ongoing.
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Andrews told Fox News that a judge has given the Department of Corrections a Friday deadline to respond an emergency motion granting him access to take photographs and videos of Weimar’s injuries — something he says a jury must see in a trial. Andrews says Weimar currently is being treated at a hospital in Ocala but officials so far haven’t let him document her condition, citing a “security risk.”
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