Photo Courtesy of Atlanta Black Star
A Maryland man who was brutally beaten by gang members inside a Maryland jail in 2014 is expected to receive a $7 million settlement from the state.
Daquan Wallace, now 28, is paralyzed and cannot walk or talk as a result of the injuries he sustained during the beating. His lawsuit blames the state for what happened to him.
Wallace was sent to the Baltimore City Detention Center in September 2014 on a burglary charge that was later dismissed.
According to Wallace’s lawsuit, he was pressured to join the Black Guerilla Family (BGF), a notorious prison gang founded in 1966 that operates primarily in California and Maryland, just weeks after being incarcerated. Wallace refused to join the gang, which resulted in a brutal beating by gang members.
The lawsuit claimed corrections officers “cooperated with gang members” at the jail, and Wallace’s mother had contacted jail officials expressing concern for her son’s safety. She requested Wallace be moved to a different housing unit within the jail, but the jail would not comply with the mother’s request to ensure her son’s safety.
On December 18, 2014, Wallace was moved to another housing unit, where he was later beaten, bloodied, and left with a head injury causing brain damage.
In December 2017, Wallace filed a lawsuit against the State of Maryland, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, and the Division of Pretrial Detention and Services, accusing the state of violating his due process rights, excessive force, encouraging and covering up the attack, and failing to render aid.
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The jury found the state violated Wallace’s rights and that its negligence caused his injuries. The jury awarded Wallace $25 million in damages, which was later reduced to $200,000 in accordance with the Maryland Tort Claims Act.
The state and Wallace both appealed the decision and eventually agreed to a $7 million settlement, which would be the highest settlement paid in an inmate brutality case if approved. The settlement was approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works on March 1, 2023.
Maryland’s Comptroller, Brooke Lierman, apologized to Wallace after announcing the settlement. “I’m so sorry this happened, and I’m glad we can provide some resources to you and your family moving forward. Something like this should never have happened,” Lierman said.