The daughter of a man who died in the Jefferson County Jail has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her father was denied medication and jail staff ignored his pleas for help.
Kristen Zinselmeier filed the lawsuit Dec. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. In the lawsuit, she claims jail staff and VitalCore Health Strategies employees, who are contracted to provide medical treatment at the jail, did not provide her father medicine to treat his diabetes and high blood pressure.
Her father, William Zinselmeier, died Jan. 7, 2023, at the jail in Hillsboro. He was 58.
“Kristen filed this lawsuit because she believes accountability matters,” said Mark Pedroli, Zinselmeier’s lawyer. “She has worked tirelessly not only to advocate for her father but also to protect our entire community through meaningful reform.”
The lawsuit names Jefferson County, VitalCore, Sheriff Dave Marshak and 16 jail or VitalCore employees.
Marshak said the Sheriff’s Office does not comment on allegations in lawsuits. VitalCore did not reply to an email and a message left through the company’s website.
Marshak said VitalCore is still contracted to provide medical services at the Jefferson County Jail.
In the lawsuit, Zinselmeier requests a jury trial, seeks $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages, and asks that she be awarded reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees and that she would be granted any and all such other relief as the court deems just and proper.
Lawsuit
William Zinselmeier was booked on March 18, 2022, at the Jefferson County Jail, according to the lawsuit. He was 57 at the time.
Kristen Zinselmeier said her father was living in St. Louis before he went to jail for what she said was a federal drug charge for a nonviolent offense.
The lawsuit said William Zinselmeier informed jail staff that he had diabetes and hypertension and was prescribed daily medication, which included metformin, Victoza (liraglutide) and amlodipine. The lawsuit also said Zinselmeier’s blood pressure was recorded at 153 over 101 on the day he entered the jail.
When untreated or improperly treated, Zinselmeier’s conditions left him unable to eat without vomiting, retrieve medications, breathe normally and cause him to become bedridden, according to the lawsuit.
Zinselmeier’s health began to deteriorate in mid-December 2022. He was persistently nauseated and vomiting, unable to eat or drink and could not walk, and he allegedly said, “I feel like I’m going to die,” the lawsuit said.
On Jan. 5, 2023, Zinselmeier wrote a sick call request and said he “had not eaten in four days.” Also, during the first week of January 2023, other inmates told jail staff about Zinselmeier’s condition, according to the lawsuit.
Zinselmeier told guards on Jan. 6, 2023, about his condition and that he felt like he was “dying.” At about 8:30 p.m. that day, Zinselmeier fell out of bed, and other inmates claim after he was put back on his bed, guards did not check on him, call 911 or schedule follow-up medical care, the lawsuit said.
At about 3:40 a.m. Jan. 7, 2023, an inmate called for help when Zinselmeier stopped breathing. Emergency medical service personnel arrived at 3:46 a.m., and Zinselmeier was pronounced dead at 4:08 a.m., according to the lawsuit.
The suit says the medical examiner listed Zinselmeier’s cause of death as hypertensive cardiovascular disease with diabetes mellitus as a significant contributing condition. The suit also alleges not one blood pressure reading or blood sugar reading was taken in the week prior to Zinselmeier’s death.
The lawsuit alleges multiple people informed jail staff of Zinselmeier’s health problems in the days before his death.
The suit also alleges Zinselmeier was not receiving his medicine because he was too weak to get out of bed to get it when jail staff brought the medicine cart to the holding area where he was housed. The suit alleges a jail staff member said, “If he (Zinselmeier) wants his medicine, he can get up and come get his medicine.”
According to the lawsuit, jail staff and nurses recorded that Zinselmeier “refused” his medication when he was unable to get out of bed to retrieve his medicine. Recording a medical “refusal” for a detainee who was too sick to walk to the medication cart was an unwritten official policy of Jefferson County Jail and VitalCore, the suit said.
The lawsuit alleges the Jefferson County Jail policy and national correctional standards require a refusal of medication form to be signed by the patient and at least one witness. The suit says Zinselmeier did not sign any refusal forms, and no one else witnessed or signed a refusal.
Previous convictions
Zinselmeier previously had been convicted of felony drug charges before being held at the Jefferson County Jail.
In March 2000, he pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance in St. Louis County. The judge suspended the execution of a three-year sentence and placed Zinselmeier on five years’ probation, according to court documents.
In June 2003, Zinselmeier pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance in St. Louis and was sentenced to five years in jail, court records show.
In January 2012, he pleaded guilty to distributing, delivering, manufacturing or producing a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance in St. Charles County. He was sentenced to a total of eight years in prison, court documents said.