A former St. Bernard Parish correctional officer pleaded guilty Tuesday (Sept. 18) to violating the rights of a woman who, after being repeatedly denied medical help for her rare blood disorder, died during a roughly 10-day stay at the parish jail, according to federal court records.
Timothy Williams of Meraux, now in his late 30s, was convicted of violating the civil rights of 19-year-old Nimali Henry of Chalmette.
The young mother of an infant was found April 1, 2014, lying face-down, unresponsive, on the floor of an isolation cell. A coroner's report found she likely died of a blood clot.
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A December 2015 indictment also charged Andre Dominick of Arabi, Debra Becnel of Violet and Lisa Vaccarella of Chalmette with failing to provide proper medication and treatment to Henry and then making false statements to the FBI, which investigated Henry's death
The 19-year-old Henry was arrested March 21, 2014 after trying to see her 4-month-old daughter, who was with her father at another woman's home in St. Bernard Parish. Henry entered the home despite being told not to enter, according to a Sheriff's Office report, and was booked into the jail on charges of disturbing the peace, simple battery and unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling.
Her bond was set at $25,000, an amount "nobody could come up with," Henry's sister told a Times-Picayune reporter in 2014.
Henry would not leave the jail alive.
Her family members said she had been diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or TTP, a rare blood disorder that causes clots to form in small blood vessels around the body. The condition was life-threatening and required regular medication, court documents show.
While jailed in the St. Bernard Parish Prison, Henry did not receive medication–or any medical evaluation or treatment for her condition, despite what court documents describe as an obviously deteriorating physical condition and desperate pleas for help from both Henry and other inmates.
Instead, court documents describe how Williams and Vaccarella, a deputy who worked the night shift with Williams, "mocked and ridiculed" Henry while watching jail footage of Henry's increasing struggles to stand, walk and function.
When Williams did not promptly respond, the officer announced the emergency to more officers. However, responding officers, including Vaccarella, brought Henry to the holding cell, court records show.
There, Williams saw that Henry was "obviously ill and that her health had deteriorated from the previous night," but he continued to do nothing. Later, he and Vaccarella again mocked Henry as they watched footage of officers pulling her off the floor, according to the factual basis.
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