Federal Jury Awards $2 Million in Oklahoma County Jail Death

On April 17, 2026, a federal jury in Oklahoma City returned a unanimous $2 million verdict against the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority — the entity commonly known as the Jail Trust — for violating the civil rights of Gregory N. Davis, a 53-year-old pretrial detainee who died of a perforated ulcer after jail staff repeatedly missed mandatory cell checks and failed to respond to visible signs of a medical emergency. Addison Law was part of the legal and trial team that represented the Davis family in this case.

The verdict in Simms v. Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority arrives at a moment when the Jail Trust faces intensifying scrutiny from elected officials, federal investigators, and the families of the more than 60 people who have died in its custody since July 2020.

Gregory Davis Should Not Have Died

Gregory Davis was arrested in Oklahoma City on August 3, 2021, after police found him walking through a neighborhood without clothing. He was charged with outraging public decency, a misdemeanor. By all accounts, he was experiencing a mental health crisis — something his family had never witnessed before. "It wasn't like Greg to do stuff like that," his older brother, Glenn Davis, told jurors. "That wasn't Greg."

Davis was housed on the jail's 12th floor because of his mental health issues. Staff observed him in his cell, naked and delusional, chanting "OU, OU" repeatedly. He attempted to make outside phone calls 893 times during his nine days in custody. His cell became filthy because of his psychosis. Despite the obvious severity of his condition, a medical assessment of Davis was never completed.

Under the jail's own policies, detention officers were required to check on Davis every 30 minutes. An internal investigation later found that officers failed to perform those checks — including five of the six required checks in the hours immediately before Davis was found unresponsive on August 12, 2021. A sergeant on the day Davis died had decided to take him to the jail's medical clinic but never followed through, instead leaving to get other inmates out of their cells for court appearances. Davis was declared dead at a hospital that same day.

An autopsy determined that Davis died after his ulcer perforated — meaning a sore on his small intestine developed a hole. He also had the COVID-19 virus. A gastroenterologist, Dr. David Borislow, testified at trial that the ulcer perforation occurred 12 to 48 hours before Davis's death and that even a layperson would have noticed he was in pain. Davis would have needed surgery, but he could have survived.

A fellow inmate who was housed on the same floor in 2021 testified that Davis screamed in pain, cried, and begged for a nurse for days. No detention officer ever reported any screaming.

What the Jury Found

Six jurors deliberated for approximately two hours before returning a unanimous verdict. They found that the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority violated Gregory Davis's civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because its employees were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical need. The jury awarded $2 million in damages to Davis's family.

The jury rejected claims against two individual defendants: Greg Williams, the former jail administrator, and Sanaria Okongor, a licensed professional counselor. The verdict against the Jail Trust entity itself, however, reflected the jury's conclusion that the harm to Davis was the product of systemic institutional failure — precisely the kind of municipal liability that Section 1983's Monell doctrine is designed to address.

Williams himself conceded during his testimony that the missed sight checks may have contributed to Davis's death. "They could have, yes," he said. That concession, combined with the documented pattern of missed checks, the abandoned medical clinic visit, and the testimony of fellow inmates who heard Davis crying for help, gave the jury a comprehensive picture of institutional indifference.

A Pattern of Failure at Oklahoma County Jail

The Davis verdict does not exist in isolation. It is part of a growing record of accountability for the Oklahoma County Jail crisis — a crisis that has claimed more than 60 lives since the Jail Trust took over operations from the county sheriff in July 2020.

The jail has failed every Oklahoma State Department of Health inspection since the Jail Trust took over. Staffing levels remain critically below what is needed to operate the facility safely — a staffing analysis found the jail needs approximately 500 workers to operate safely, far more than its budget supports. When there are not enough officers to perform required rounds, treatable medical conditions become fatal. When medical visits are deprioritized in favor of routine logistics, people die in their cells.

In March 2026, Oklahoma County officials recommended by a 6-1 vote that the Jail Trust be disbanded. "There's been some great people that have served ... but at the end of the day, the trust has been a failed experiment," Oklahoma County Commissioner Jason Lowe said at a special meeting of the Budget Board. Additional federal trials over jail deaths are on the horizon, and a January 2025 Department of Justice investigation found that the jail has become the "default behavioral health provider" for the Oklahoma City area in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act — findings that remain unresolved.

The Davis verdict sends a clear message: juries are willing to hold the institution accountable when the evidence shows that systemic failures cost lives. The Jail Trust's attorney argued at trial that more than 100 people saw Davis during his nine days in custody and that you "can't ignore what you don't know about." The jury disagreed. The evidence showed that the signs were there — the screaming, the psychosis, the filthy cell, the 893 unanswered phone calls — and the system simply failed to respond.

What This Means for Families

Kizzie Simms, Davis's daughter, filed the lawsuit in 2023 as special administrator of her father's estate and on her own behalf. At trial, she told the jury about her father: "He was a beautiful human being, full of energy. He loved life."

For families who have lost loved ones at Oklahoma County Jail, this verdict confirms what many have long believed — that federal civil rights litigation remains the most viable path to accountability for jail deaths. The deliberate indifference standard under the Fourteenth Amendment requires more than negligence, but when the evidence shows that a jail knew about serious risks and failed to act, juries will hold the institution responsible.

Federal Section 1983 claims remain available despite recent state court rulings that have expanded sovereign immunity protections for some government contractors. The Davis verdict was tried entirely in federal court under federal law, where the Governmental Tort Claims Act's limitations do not apply and where municipalities cannot assert qualified immunity.

Critically, the two-year statute of limitations for Section 1983 claims means that families must act promptly. Evidence in jail death cases — surveillance video, shift logs, medical records, internal investigations — can be lost, overwritten, or destroyed if not preserved through litigation. The Davis case itself revealed that an internal investigation documented the missed cell checks, but without litigation, that investigation would have remained hidden from public view.

The Legal Framework Behind the Verdict

The Davis verdict rested on two well-established legal principles. First, under the Fourteenth Amendment, pretrial detainees like Gregory Davis — who had not been convicted of any crime — have a constitutional right to adequate medical care. When jail officials are deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need, they violate that right. The evidence showed that Davis's medical need was obvious to anyone: he was visibly psychotic, in physical distress, and housed on a floor specifically designated for inmates with mental health issues. The failure to complete a medical assessment, the missed cell checks, and the abandoned clinic visit each represented a point where intervention could have saved his life.

Second, under Monell v. Department of Social Services, municipalities and government entities can be held liable under Section 1983 when constitutional violations result from an official policy, custom, or practice of deliberate indifference. The jury's verdict against the Jail Trust — rather than the individual defendants — reflects a finding that the harm to Davis was caused by institutional failures, not merely the mistakes of individual officers. The chronic understaffing, the pattern of missed checks documented by the jail's own internal investigation, and the systemic inability to deliver inmates to medical appointments all supported the conclusion that the Jail Trust's operational failures rose to the level of a constitutional violation.

Attorney's fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 are available to prevailing plaintiffs in Section 1983 cases, meaning the cost of pursuing accountability does not fall entirely on the family. This provision ensures that families who cannot afford prolonged federal litigation can still access the courts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Simms v. OCCJA verdict?

On April 17, 2026, a six-person federal jury in Oklahoma City unanimously awarded $2 million to the family of Gregory N. Davis after finding that the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority was deliberately indifferent to Davis's serious medical needs. Davis, a 53-year-old pretrial detainee, died of a perforated ulcer on August 12, 2021, after jail staff missed mandatory cell checks and failed to respond to visible signs of his medical distress.

Who brought the lawsuit?

Kizzie Simms, Davis's daughter, filed the case in 2023 as the special administrator of her father's estate and on her own behalf. The legal and trial team that represented the family included attorneys from Addison Law.

What claims were at issue?

The case was brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the Jail Trust violated Davis's Fourteenth Amendment right to adequate medical care as a pretrial detainee. The jury found that the Jail Trust's employees were deliberately indifferent to Davis's serious medical need. Claims against two individual defendants — former jail administrator Greg Williams and licensed professional counselor Sanaria Okongor — were rejected.

Can my family file a similar lawsuit over a jail death?

Potentially, yes. Federal Section 1983 claims are available when jail officials or entities are deliberately indifferent to serious medical needs, and these claims are not barred by the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act. However, the statute of limitations is two years in Oklahoma, and preserving evidence requires prompt action. Contact an attorney experienced in jail death litigation as soon as possible.

How does this verdict fit into the broader Oklahoma County Jail crisis?

The Davis verdict is one of a growing number of legal actions holding the Jail Trust accountable. More than 60 inmates have died since the Trust took over in 2020. The jail has failed every state health inspection since the Trust assumed control. Oklahoma County officials voted 6-1 in March 2026 to recommend dissolving the Trust, and additional federal trials are pending.

What is deliberate indifference?

Deliberate indifference is the legal standard for proving a constitutional violation in jail medical care cases. It requires showing that officials knew of a substantial risk to an inmate's health and consciously disregarded it. In the Davis case, evidence of missed cell checks, the abandoned clinic visit, and fellow inmates hearing Davis scream for help all supported the jury's finding that jail staff knew of the risk and failed to act.

Does the verdict affect future jail death cases?

While each case depends on its own facts, the Davis verdict demonstrates that Oklahoma City federal juries will hold the Jail Trust accountable when evidence shows systemic failures caused a detainee's death. It also confirms that Monell municipal liability claims against the Jail Trust entity are viable, even when claims against individual defendants are not successful.

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At Addison Law, we represent families across Oklahoma in jail death and civil rights cases, including cases involving the Oklahoma County Jail. If you have lost a loved one in custody and believe their death was preventable, contact us for a free, confidential consultation.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.