Nov. 04–A Beaufort veteran
In his complaint form filed Oct. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Kalvin Hunt said he wants to sue the hospital and CasePro Inc. on the grounds of criminal negligence, medical malpractice and for a security breach after he alleged he told hospital employees he felt like harming himself on Feb. 24, 2012.
“After my admittance and during my initial mental health screening, I was asked, ‘Did I feel like harming myself or harming others,'” Hunt said in the handwritten complaint. “I said, ‘yes.’ Once deemed a threat to myself, I was left unattended by nursing staff, at which point I fled the premises naked unchecked by security, stole a nearby idling firetruck and murdered an innocent pedestrian after having a flashback.”
A Beaufort County jury found Hunt not guilty by reason of insanity on Dec. 18, 2014, in the death of 28-year-old Justin Miller.
Miller was struck by the Port Royal firetruck Hunt drove as he was walking with his brother along Ribaut Road.
“Due to the negligence of the doctor, nurses and security, I was allowed to escape their custody to commit such a heinous crime,” Hunt wrote in the complaint.
Hunt is asking for lawyer fees, health care costs, and to be compensated for “physical and emotional scarring, pain and suffering, mental anguish and false imprisonment.”
“The exploitation and public humiliation have almost been unbearable due to my mental illness,” he wrote.
Hunt also requested a congressional investigation be conducted to exonerate himself “from blame in this case completely.”
CasePro Inc. prevailed in a lawsuit Oct. 15 filed by Rebecca Delaney, Miller’s mother, in which she sued the hiring agency for the wrongful death of her son.
David Hoyle, Delaney’s attorney, argued that hospital employees made notes that Hunt said he had thoughts of harming himself and others.
He also said Miller’s death could have been avoided if a nurse had said “no” when Hunt asked to step outside to get some air before he ran away.
When contacted Tuesday, Charleston lawyer
Attempts to reach the Naval Hospital were unsuccessful.
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