Ohio mom: Negligence in inmate's lightning death
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The mother of an inmate who was struck by lightning while jogging in a recreation yard is accusing the Ohio prisons department of negligence that contributed to his death. The state is denying the claim.
Linda Bickerstaff, of Akron, filed the case in the Ohio Court of Claims over the death of 33-year-old Dalin Anderson. He died and several other inmates were hurt in the May 2010 lightning strike at the Belmont Correctional Institution in St. Clairsville in eastern Ohio.
Bickerstaff alleges the prison failed to protect the inmates' safety because no corrections officers were in the exercise yard and they didn't close it as storms approached. She seeks at least $75,000 in damages.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The state says Anderson's death was the result of acts beyond the prison department's control.