Marc Moreno

Marc Anthony Moreno was an 18-year-old resident of Franklin County. He experienced a mental crisis on March 3, 2016, and his family had brought him to a county crisis response unit to seek help. Instead of being transported to a hospital, Moreno was arrested by police on two misdemeanor warrants. Moreno was transported to the Benton County Jail. During his incarceration, Moreno was almost entirely confined to a “safety cell” that was illuminated 24 hours by an overhead lamp, had no access to water, a toilet, sink, bed or place to sit. A mental health social worker at the jail met with Moreno and noted evidence of mania and psychosis, but “did not attempt to treat Mr. Moreno’s mental health symptoms in any way or to refer him to another professional for further evaluation and treatment,” according to the lawsuit. By March 7, Moreno was “in dire and obvious need of professional mental health treatment,” according to the lawsuit; by March 8, he was “suffering from profound dehydration in addition to malnourishment.” On March 11, jail officers discovered Moreno “dead in his cell, lying face down on the floor, naked, with feces and trash all around him,” according to the lawsuit. He weighed 179 pounds at his death, having lost 40 pounds during his seven-day incarceration.

Federal lawsuit. Lawyer Edwin Budge, whose Seattle law firm represented Moreno’s family. In 2019, Moreno's parents "quietly received an out-of-court settlement for $4.5 million from the jail’s private health care contractors

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