09-03-2025
Settlement reached in lawsuit of man who died in Chatham County Jail in 2020
Attorneys for the family of Lee Michael Creely, a man who died in a Chatham County Detention Center in 2020, and Chatham County attorneys have reached a settlement agreement, Chatham County Assistant Attorney Andre Pretorius confirmed in a phone call.
On Sept. 6, 2020, Creely died in the Chatham County Detention Center of a fentanyl overdose. A previous Savannah Morning News investigation found a series of missteps from the lack of drug treatment to probation bureaucracy, to lax administration of private healthcare within the Chatham County Detention Center (CCDC) to a lack of oversight from correctional officers caused Creely's death.
The settlement marks the end of a legal saga that began in early February 2022, when attorneys for Creely's longtime girlfriend Jessica Hodges initially filed the lawsuit in Chatham County Superior Court. In late March 2022, the case was removed to federal court. Hodges and her two children were originally seeking damages "up to the sound discretion of the jury." The case was officially dismissed on March 5 of this year, according to court records.
Pretorius said that the settlement agreement was worth $500,000. It's unclear whether the settlement has been approved by county commissioners. Pretorius said the settlement was approved by the county commissioners. County Chairman Chester Ellis, however, said in a phone call that he wasn't aware of the case, and the commissioners hadn't approved the settlement. As of publication time, the settlement has not been posted on the Chatham County Commissioners meeting minutes.
The Savannah Morning News made an open records request to the county for the settlement amount in early February of this year. In a response letter, Pretorius wrote that 'Court records maintained are not subject to the Georgia Open Records are therefore not required to be produced in accordance with the provisions thereof.'
More: Family of man who died in Chatham County jail sues jail, health care provider and county
More: Two internal investigations reveal Creely's death in Chatham County jail 'preventable'
More: Lee Michael Creely's last hours marked by withdrawal, medical indifference in Chatham County jail
The suit was originally filed by David Utter and Will Claiborne of the Claiborne Firm against CorrectHealth, the owner of CorrectHealth LLC Carlo Musso, seven CorrectHealth employees and seven CCDC employees.
CorrectHealth is the private contractor that provides healthcare to the CCDC.
Multiple defendants, including CorrectHealth employees and CCDC employees, were eventually removed from the case. The final remaining parties were Don White, a then-CCDC correctional officer, Jackie Harned, a then-CorrectHealth nurse, Musso, and CorrectHealth Chatham LLC.
A separate settlement agreement was reached between Claiborne and Utter and attorneys representing Correct Health, which remains confidential, Utter said in a phone call. An attorney for CorrectHealth, Carlton Joyce of Bouhan Falligant, did not return a call or email for comment by publication time.
'All I'm allowed to say publicly is that the settlement is amicable,' Utter said in a phone call. 'We're pleased that the case pleased that this long litigation is over and hopefully Lee Creely's boys can put this behind them.'
As previously reported by SMN, two autopsies - one by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and another by Dr. Charles Pugh, the physician who blew the whistle on Corizon, Chatham County's previous private healthcare provider - both concluded Creely died of a fentanyl overdose.
The Claiborne Firm, however, argued that how Creely died, whether of a fentanyl withdrawal or overdose, was irrelevant.
Another argument made by the Claiborne Firm: a CorrectHealth nurse working at the CCDC lied about her account of what happened on the day of Creely's death, citing video surveillance and deposition testimony by a former jail worker.
An 18-page review by Dr. Kenneth A. Ray and Dr. Ronald Shansky, two court-appointed monitors, published on Sep. 30, 2020, revealed that 'CorrectHealth Policies and Procedures indicates that several relevant health care requirements were not followed,' as SMN has previously reported.
SMN also reported that, "security checks [by CCDC jail workers] were not conducted properly, census check, general conduct, and medical protocol for an individual detoxing was not followed," according to a Chatham County Jail internal affairs investigator tasked with investigating Creely's death.
CorrectHealth, meanwhile, argued that Creely "caused his own demise," citing the autopsy report and body scans that showed that Creely died from fentanyl overdose and smuggled the drugs into the jail.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Lee Michael Creely lawsuit dismissed, settlement reached
