Widow sues Crow Wing County over husband’s jail suicide, alleges pattern of neglect

A longtime camp director in northern Minnesota died by suicide shortly after he was booked into jail on a drunken-driving charge. Now his wife is suing the county and a correctional officer for the alleged wrongful death her attorney says reflects a concerning pattern of suicides at the jail.

Robert Arthur Slaybaugh, 57, of Nisswa died in the Crow Wing County jail on Feb. 22, 2024, just an hour after he was booked and disclosed to jail staff his history of mental illness and a recent suicide attempt, according to a newly filed federal lawsuit by Susan Slaybaugh.

The lawsuit accuses the county and correctional officer Brandon Anderson of violating Slaybaugh’s rights and includes an email chain between jail staffers joking about inmate suicides.

Between 2017 and 2022, the lawsuit states that 13 inmates attempted suicide at the jail. Following a November 2021 inmate suicide, the Minnesota Department of Corrections said in an action plan that the facility needed to replace bunkbeds “deemed a safety hazard and an unsafe condition for inmates with mental health concerns.”

But it wasn’t until after Slaybaugh’s death that bunkbeds were replaced, said Minneapolis attorney Jeff Storms.

“I think anyone who loses somebody to suicide always struggles with an understanding of that,” Storms said. “I work with a lot of families who lose somebody as a result of some form of action or inaction of government conduct, and that always adds another layer of sort of a broken trust that’s even harder to understand.”

Storms last year won a $3.4 million lawsuit for a family he represented in a wrongful inmate death in Hennepin County. The inmate asked for medical care but died of a perforated bowel. It’s believed to be one of the largest ever paid in Minnesota for a death in jail. He also won a $3.25 million settlement for the family of Daunte Wright, who was killed by police during a traffic stop in 2021.

Iverson Reuvers Law Firm, which is representing both the county and Anderson, declined to comment on the pending litigation.

According to the lawsuit, Slaybaugh was arrested on the drunken-driving charge at 6:13 p.m. He entered the jail with a 0.282 blood alcohol concentration, over three and a half times Minnesota’s legal driving limit.

During intake, he disclosed that he suffered from anxiety and a suicide attempt within the last six months, the lawsuit said. He also told jail staffers he had been hospitalized for mental health problems. The lawsuit states that under the jail’s own policy, he should have been referred to immediate mental health evaluation. Instead, the suit states, Anderson placed Slaybaugh in general housing with a sheet and bunkbed.

“Anderson had direct knowledge of multiple red flags indicating that Robert had serious medical needs and was at substantial risk of harm, including suicide,” the lawsuit alleges.

Within 61 minutes, Slaybaugh was found hanging and pronounced dead.

He and his wife raised two children in the Brainerd Lakes area. His obituary said he was a founder of the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza.

But he struggled with alcohol and had a drunken-driving conviction in November 2022.

Storms said this case “could be anyone’s loved one.”

“What family hasn’t had experience with people who suffer from drug abuse or alcohol abuse, who have their worst day at some point that hopefully they rebound from, they get the care that they need — which jail can be a first step of," he said.

One of the civil rights violations alleged in the lawsuit is what’s known as a Monell claim, when the government is accused of policies leading to a violation, Storms said — not just a one-off instance.

Anderson is not included in the email chain, but Storms said the exchange between other officers and the lead field training officer at the jail is a “powerful indicator of a custom that needs to be addressed.”

He said Susan Slaybaugh, who declined to comment, “feels very strongly about changing the culture at that jail — changes that didn’t happen quickly enough to help Robert.“