State investigators to review Johnston inmate's death after allegations he was denied medical care

Family members say 23-year-old Eric Cruz had late-stage kidney disease and required regular dialysis, care he didn't receive after he was booked into jail Jan. 13 on charges ranging from drug possession to larceny. He died six days later of apparent kidney failure.

"My heart is broken," his mother, Maria Cruz, said Thursday through a translator, adding that she feels her son died from negligence.

When Eric Cruz first entered the jail, officers and fellow inmates say he made his health condition known to everyone.

"He told me he had kidney disease and he was on dialysis," inmate Lyric Murray said. "He felt like he was dying."

Johnston County Sheriff's Office Capt. Mike Carson, the jail administrator, said Cruz was evaluated by medical staff close to a dozen times, and they never saw the need to seek emergency care.

"We knew of his condition. It was being worked on to get taken care of," Carson said.

When jail staff contacted the Johnston Dialysis Center just blocks away, they were told Cruz had consistently missed earlier treatments or cut them short, Carson said.

"There was a lot issues with those treatments," he said. "They contacted the center. The center did not accept him, so we had to find another location."

A dialysis center staffer initially said the rejection wasn’t true. Spokesman Brad Puffer issued a statement Thursday night that said other options are available for inmates on dialysis.

"Dialysis is a necessary life-sustaining measure for people with kidney failure, and we are committed to providing quality treatments to all our patients," Puffer said. "When a patient is incarcerated, there are also options to receive dialysis treatment at the hospital emergency room or at a prison with dialysis services.”

WRAL Investigates requested all written communication between the jail and the dialysis clinic but hasn’t received it.

"That treatment was getting sought, but it never got to the point of actually happening because the current facility did not want him back," Carson said. "We were stepping into the process of getting a new facility, but unfortunately, he passed before that could take place."

Cruz’ condition worsened without treatment, and at times, he screamed for help, Murray said.

"They looked at him every day, talked to him every hour and neglected his help," he said. "It got repetitive. He told them the same thing over and over, every day, every hour, every 30 minutes, and they started getting mad with him. Eventually, some of them just got mad with him because he wouldn’t shut up, like he was dying and he was not going to shut up."

Carson denied Murray’s story.

"The time that I was in the block, I never heard the man crying, never heard the man screaming," he said. "If he hadn't been arrested and he'd been out in the real world, it probably would have been the same situation."

He said he stands by the department’s handling of the entire situation.

"I don’t know there’s really not much we could have done differently. I wouldn’t recommend us doing anything differently," he said. "It’s just an unfortunate, sad thing."

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services jail inspectors are expected to review the case.

"We got nothing to hide. I got absolutely nothing to hide." Carson said.

Through the translator, Cruz’ mother said she doesn’t think the sheriff's office is telling the truth. She wants justice and is considering legal action.