David Yearby, 27, died in the Middlesex County jail in 2014 after being in a restraining chair for 9 hours, according to court documents Watch video
David Yearby, who died in the Middlesex Conty jail in North Brunswick in 2014. A judge has reinstated a civil suit against the county, the Piscataway police who arrested yearby, and nurses and others at the jail. (Yearby family photo)NEW BRUNSWICK -- In November 2014, 27-year-old David Yearby, suffering from a broken neck, died while being held at the Middlesex County jail. Yearby spent the last nine hours of his life restrained in a chair at the jail, according to court documents.
Yearby's mother, Veronica Yearby, sued Middlesex County and Piscataway police who first arrested Yearby, but disagreements erupted between the family and their lawyer, and the entire suit was nearly thrown out by the court.
Last month a new team of lawyers convinced a judge to reinstate the complaints against the county, Piscataway police, corrections officers and nurses at jail.
In addition, Superior Court Judge Vincent LeBlon found that records kept by the nurses at the jail appeared to have been changed.
This week, Veronica Yearby's new team of lawyers, including Brooke Barnett of Newark and Brian Schiller and Joshua McMahon of Westfield, filed an amended complaint, broadening the claims against the county and police, and including additional officers and health care providers.
"It's mind boggling in this day and age that somebody went through this torture." Barnett said. "Whether is was intentional, whether it was unintentional, how they could have such a disregard for human life," she said.
Barnett said the jail staff apparently did not hear Yearby when he tried to talk while he was restrained, but she wants to have him heard through this case in court.
Yearby's family says he was mental ill. They claim authorities never tried to get him help.
"He was very kind hearted," Tabreeka Yearby, David Yearby's sister said. "It breaks my heart that I just can't pick up the phone to call him." Her brother's death, she said, stunned the family and left many unanswered questions. She felt traumatized when the lawsuit was nearly thrown out.
The Middlesex County Medical Examiner determined Yearby died of a broken neck after suffering blunt force trauma, but there was no determination of the source of the blunt force that caused the injuries, according to the ruling. No criminal charges were filed in the case.
LeBlon, in his Oct. 24 ruling, said that records of when nurses checked Yearby looked as if they has been changed. Records show that at 3:23 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2014, staff at the jail called a "code blue" because Yearby was unresponsive as he sat restrained in the chair.
LeBlon said one nurse reported checking on Yearby at 3:15 a.m., eight minutes before the "code blue."
However, "the times recorded appear to have been written over, and the original time written on that entry appears to be 2:55 a.m."
Earlier this year, LeBlon issued three separate decisions in which he dismissed the claims against the county, Piscataway and the officers and nurses based on motions from lawyers for each of those defendants.
His ruling on Oct. 24 vacated those dismissals, citing the change in attorneys and a gap in communications between Veronica Yearby's first lawyer, Gregg Zeff, and a new team of lawyers, Barnett, Schiller and McMahon.
"Given the significance of the matter at hand, it is in the interests of all parties, and the public as a whole, to see this matter fully and completely litigated," LeBlon.
Piscataway police arrested Yearby on Oct. 31, 2014, charging him with assaulting two officers. That night he was taken to the jail. At 8:20 p.m. Yearby was in an altercation with with a corrections officer and he was restrained with handcuffs and a spit mask put on his face, then placed in a "watch cell," according to the judge's decision.
The next day, an "extraction team" of officers removed Yearby from his cell after he refused to come out.
About 7:25 p.m., he was put in a "restraint" chair, and he was placed under the care of the jail nursing staff. A nurse reported that Yearby was checked every 15 minutes.
At 3:23 a.m. Yearby was found unresponsive.
Messages sent to lawyers for Piscataway, Middlesex County and the nurses seeking a comment were not returned.
Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.