COLUMBIA, S.C. _ Seven and a half years after her newborn baby daughter died in a South Carolina prison toilet, Sinetra Johnson has been awarded a more than $1 million settlement from the state Department of Corrections and two medical companies that the state contracts with, according to court documents filed Friday.
Johnson, who gave birth in 2012 to twins while incarcerated at Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution, and her lawyers were awarded a total of $1.15 million _ $750,000 from the state Department of Corrections and $200,000 each from Medustrial and MedFirst, according to an order written by state judge George McFadden and filed in Richland County.
"She's very glad to have this behind her and is looking forward to the rest of her life," Johnson's attorney J. Christopher Mills said Friday. Mills has been working with Johnson since about a month after her child's death. Mills was joined by attorney Beau Wilder on the case.
Corrections officials did not admit culpability in the case, which is common in a settlement situation, Mills said.
Corrections officials also declined to comment on the settlement. Corrections Director Bryan Stirling was appointed to lead the agency in 2013, a year after Johnson gave birth in prison and lost one of her twin newborns.
Though Johnson was assigned to a Columbia women's prison that specialized in inmates with medical needs, when she went into labor in 2012 at only 26 weeks pregnant, Johnson said her concerns went ignored.
"I knew something was wrong," Johnson told The State for an investigation into the state prison system published last year. "It just wasn't the normal feeling that I had during the 25 weeks prior."
She visited the prison's medical facility several times throughout the day, but was never given a vaginal exam or taken to see an OB/GYN, Johnson said to The State and in her lawsuit.
At 11:15 p.m., Johnson rushed to the prison dorm's bathroom screaming, sat on the toilet and delivered the first of her twins: Karmin Elisha Geter. Karmin was born 14 weeks premature and still inside her amniotic sack, according to the lawsuit.
Other inmates at the prison called for guards to help, but none came, according to Johnson's lawsuit. Inmates placed Johnson in a wheelchair and took her to the medical station as she labored to deliver her second child.
When guards did eventually enter the bathroom, inmates tried to rescue Karmin from the toilet, where she was suffocating inside her amniotic sack, according to the lawsuit. Guards ordered them not to go near the baby, and she was left in the toilet until nearly midnight.
A later autopsy concluded that Karmin could have survived if the sack had been manually ruptured, according to the lawsuit.
"In the beginning, it was really hard," Johnson said in September 2018, nearly six years after her daughter's death. "I couldn't go into clothing stores. I would avoid the little girl's section all together. I would see people with twins and I would just ... break down. I became angry inside. Angry at myself. Angry at the situation. At the way things happened."
"(This) shouldn't have to happen," Johnson said in September 2018. "Inmate or not, we're still people."
According to the settlement agreement, Johnson and her family are slated to receive more than $568,000. Another $86,500 will be divided between Johnson and Karmin's father, according to court documents.
The State spoke to Johnson for a story about the rampant medical neglect inside of the state's prison system. The State found that prison officials struggle to provide basic physical and mental health care for the inmates in their care.
The neglect alleged by inmates who spoke to The State and in lawsuits filed against the department has cost the state millions of dollars to fight in court. From fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2019, the state paid more than $10.5 million due to medical-related lawsuits filed against Corrections, according to data from the S.C. Insurance Reserve Fund.
Corrections has been the subject of a comprehensive overview from state lawmakers over the past two years, which was launched in the wake of a massive prison riot at Lee Correctional Institution.
For the budget year that begins July 1, the agency has requested tens of millions of dollars to make security improvements and hire more guards at prisons across the state. Gov. Henry McMaster and key legislators have said the agency will be a top priority in the state's upcoming spending plan.
