25 Apr Press Release: Gillians vs. USA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO PAY $700,000 TO ESTATE OF INMATE WHO DIED IN FEDERAL PRISON
Charleston County, SC – The Peper Law Firm, PA of Charleston, SC and Stewart Tilghman Fox
Bianchi & Cain, P.A. of Miami, FL are pleased to announce a $700,000 settlement on behalf
of the Estate of Davon Gillians. The settlement was approved in the Charleston County Court
of Common Pleas on February 26, 2024.
As alleged in the complaint filed February 28, 2022, in the US District Court for the Middle District
of Florida, Ocala Division, the custom and culture created within FCI Coleman gave correctional
officers free reign to physically assault and restrain, punish at will, and refuse medical treatment
to inmates in violation of their 8th Am. rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. This
pattern of illegal behavior directly caused the death of Mr. Gillians on May 19, 2021, less than a
year before the 24-year-old resident of Charleston, SC was scheduled to be released.
As alleged in the filed complaint, FCI Coleman correctional officers removed Mr. Gillians from
his assigned cell, punched and choked him to the point of unconsciousness, strapped him in a
restraint chair, and placed him in solitary confinement for over 48 hours. After being deprived of
food, water, and medical care, officers then placed him in a single cell assigned to an inmate with
a known propensity to violently attack others due to his severe mental health condition. After
watching Mr. Gillians sustain additional injuries, correctional officers violently extracted Mr.
Gillians from the cell, repeatedly sprayed him with OC spray, and once again strapped him to a
restraint chair until he succumbed to his injuries on May 19, 2021. Mr. Gillians cause of death
was determined to be a “vaso-occlusive crisis complicated by oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray)
use and prolonged restraint following altercation.” The manner of death, Homicide.
Lead attorney Mark A. Peper of the Peper Law Firm in Charleston, South Carolina issued the
following statement:
“In bringing this lawsuit, our goal was to hold all individuals responsible for his
death accountable for their actions. What these Defendants did to our client is
unconscionable and cannot be tolerated in a civil society. While no amount of
money is enough to compensate the family, we’re pleased that none of the involved
officers remain employed by FCI Coleman, and we hope our efforts will cause all
prisons to end this custom and practice once and for all, while simultaneously
providing a sense of justice for Mr. Gillian’s family.”
The filed complaint and Order Approving Settlement is available for download at
www.peperlawfirm.com/InTheNews.