After Jesse Banks died alone in his cell at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, a coroner found a torn mask designed to protect him from disease in his bloody mouth.

The report, taken from the notes of an Oregon State Police investigator, is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Oregon Department of Corrections in U.S. District Court in Eugene on Aug. 18. The lawsuit, filed by Banks’ mother, Patricia “Trish” Nemeth, contains a series of allegations about Banks’ treatment in prison before his death on the morning of April 1, 2023, in a cell in the prison’s psychiatric unit.

More broadly, the agency is being held accountable for its treatment of Banks, a 35-year-old man who had a documented history of mental health problems and required medication. The lawsuit suggests that either a cover-up, negligence or both were at play, and seeks up to $20 million in damages.

“State actors knowingly disregarded Mr. Banks’ serious medical needs by either strangling him to death, increasing his dosage to a lethal dose, and then leaving him unattended for several hours while they had the responsibility to check on him every 15 minutes,” the lawsuit states.

A spokesman for the Oregon Department of Corrections declined to comment on the allegations.

Banks suffered from a developmental disability and Department of Corrections staff failed to follow inmate policies and conduct required checks on inmates with mental illnesses in solitary confinement, the lawsuit says. Those checks were supposed to occur every 15 or 30 minutes.

Instead, a correctional officer who checked Banks found him dead for more than two hours without any checks being made, the lawsuit says.

Wayne Lamb, a Salem attorney representing the mother, said in a case like Banks, appropriate medical care and regular checkups are critical.

The lawsuit says the prison “turned a blind eye” to his need for mental health care and the state tried to cover up evidence. The mask mentioned in the detective’s notes was an N95 mask, which is designed to filter out 95% of particles in the air, including those that cause COVID.

The bloody mask was not mentioned in the autopsy report, the lawsuit said. Instead, the report said the upper airway was not blocked, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit states that the autopsy was flawed and that the state either “wanted to suppress evidence” or was not interested in the actual cause of death. The autopsy found that death was caused by self-inflicted strangulation.

The lawsuit alleges Banks died in one of two ways – and in both cases the state is responsible. One possibility is that a prison employee stuffed the mask down his throat and destroyed the evidence, the lawsuit says. The other possibility is that a doctor inappropriately adjusted his medication, forcing an overdose and causing a suicide, the lawsuit says.

In any case, the failure to carry out regular checks contributed to this, the lawsuit states.

“Whether the death was suicide or strangulation by a guard, the death was the result of an intentional or negligent criminal act,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit states that, based on his medical records, Banks had no suicidal thoughts. In fact, he was eagerly awaiting his release during visits with his family.

“He talked about the future, about work, about National Geographic subscriptions, and he generally spoke with optimism and sobriety,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that Banks was subjected to harassment and bullying by correctional officers and had difficulty obtaining the medications he needed.

Banks was always involved with the justice system, and at times went to the Oregon State Hospital for treatment so that he could defend himself in court against various charges. His mental state and ability to face charges were repeatedly mentioned in his criminal trials.

He was also incarcerated. In 2018, he was sentenced to 38 months in the Oregon State Prison and placed in the mental health unit.

In 2022, he was convicted of aggravated harassment and assault on a public safety officer and returned to prison. When Banks died, his release date was about two years away.

A correctional officer found him under his blanket and out of sight of the door, the lawsuit says.

Officers told investigators they tried to revive him with medical personnel, but his body was no longer warm. He was already stiff and rigid from rigor mortis. They said they performed CPR anyway.

“Whether true or not, it was clearly too late, as Mr. Banks was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m.,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit gives Nemeth’s attorney the opportunity to obtain additional evidence, possibly including surveillance camera footage, and to interview prison staff to learn more about the incidents.

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroomthe country’s largest government-based nonprofit news organization.