Farmington Attorney has more Lawsuits against St. Francois County & Sheriff’s Department

(Farmington) Farmington attorney Vonne Karraker still has more pending lawsuit cases against St. Francois County and the sheriff’s department, concerning prisoner treatment at the county jail in Farmington.

About a month ago, Karraker won a 1.8 million dollar settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit for the parents of 36-year-old William “Billy” Ames III who died in 2018 while in the custody of the sheriff’s department at the jail.

Karraaker tells Regional Radio why she’s taking the lead in these types of cases.

Karraker says in order for change to happen in cases like this, the public also needs to step up.

Karraker says she still has more than one lawsuit similar to the Ames case still pending against St. Francois County.

She says her next related case that is coming up on the docket in federal court is in relation to the death of Tabitha Tupper of Middlebrook.

Tupper died inside the county jail in October 2017 after being arrested for violating her probation, which stemmed from an opioid addiction.

She was 32-years-old, married, the mother of two young children and was a stay-at-home mom and a homemaker.

Officials with St. Francois County and sheriff’s department say they can not comment on pending lawsuits but they have said they did nothing wrong.