Alaska to pay $550K settlement to family of deceased inmate

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Court documents say the state of Alaska has agreed to pay $550,000 to settle a negligence claim by the family of a man who died in jail. The Anchorage Daily News reported Joseph Murphy suffered a fatal heart attack in 2015 while he was being held in Juneau’s Lemon Creek Correctional Center. An investigation found Murphy had a heart condition but was denied medication by guards. Murphy’s family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in 2017. Murphy was not charged with a crime at the time of his death, but was in a protective hold with a 0.16% blood-alcohol level.