$3mn awarded in lawsuit to family of prisoner who died as guards watched laughing
The Colorado Department of Corrections will pay $3 million to the family of a mentally ill inmate who died after guards and nurses at the facility for several hours watched his fatal seizures without helping him. ● Christopher Lopez, 35, who had bipolar schizoaffective disorder, died at San Carlos correctional facility in Pueblo in March 2013. The last six hours of Lopez’s life were caught on camera by the staff of the facility, who were laughing and joking while watching the inmate shaking from seizures which turned out fatal. Lopez died of severe hyponatremia (low sodium-blood levels), which is treatable if medical help comes early enough.