Nevada Department of Corrections is sued over man’s death days before his scheduled release

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas man’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday against the Nevada Department of Corrections after he was killed just days before his scheduled release from prison.

The lawsuit alleges the department defied protective custody rights and housed Jacob Herman, 35, with another man who had repeatedly threatened Herman’s life at High Desert State Prison, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Las Vegas.

This is not the only lawsuit the department has been hit with in recent years. In September, Nevada agreed to pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit that accused prison guards of beating up a man and leaving him to die in 2023.

Herman’s family contends that “systemic overcrowding, understaffing and disregard for protective-custody safeguards” led to Herman’s death, according to the complaint filed in Clark County District Court.

“Through this action, Mr. Herman’s family seeks accountability in the hope that no other family endures such a loss within Nevada’s correctional system,” the complaint states.

The Department of Corrections declined to comment, citing the active litigation. A staff shortage has been a well-known problem in the department, which pointed to the issue as a reason for delay in completing changes recommended by a state audit finished in March 2022.

Herman pleaded guilty in 2023 to larceny and was sentenced to a maximum term of 36 months, according to court records.

Herman was supposed to be housed in protective custody but was instead housed with a cellmate the lawsuit referred to as “King,” an alias. The cellmate was serving a life sentence for homicides, robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault, according to the lawsuit.

The family believes King told corrections officers he would kill Herman if Herman was put in his cell, and on July 16, the cellmate informed corrections officers that he killed Herman, the lawsuit said.

The family argues that the warden, who also was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, and other corrections officers violated Herman’s civil rights by understaffing the unit Herman was in and failing to find and remove contraband that was used to kill him.

Herman’s family is asking for at least $15,000 in damages.