Widow demands autopsy report

The widow of a slain prison officer is still waiting to see the results of her husband's autopsy, and after nearly two months, she wants answers.

In a March 15 statement to Gov. John Carney, Saundra M. Floyd said she is still waiting for the autopsy report for her husband Steven Floyd, who was killed Feb. 1 by inmates who took over a building at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center.

“Just reply privately or publicly to my demand for the release of the autopsy of my husband. How did he die? Did he suffer greatly, or did he pass quickly? Was he tortured? Was he stabbed 100 times, as we have heard? Did he die in a great pool of blood, as is rumored? Please end our suffering, and help us move on,” she wrote.

On March 21, Wendy Hudson, spokeswoman for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said the department has received no inquiry from Saundra Floyd about the autopsy. Nor has Floyd contacted the medical examiner of the Division of Forensic Science, which falls under the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

“By law, a decedent’s autopsy report may not be provided to the next of kin if there is a criminal prosecution pending,” Hudson said.

Quoting state statute, she added, “No such reports shall be released until the criminal prosecution shall have been finally concluded.”

“Furthermore, the autopsy report is not a public document,” Hudson said. “Delaware law is clear that post-mortem reports prepared by the Division of Forensic Science are investigative files that are exempt from the definition of a public record under FOIA.”

But it wasn't always this way.

Autopsy information in Delaware used to be public information. However, a 2005 lawsuit restricted information released by the medical examiner to include only cause and manner of death. The lawsuit, filed by Lisa Lawson, wife of Rehoboth Beach businessman Duane Lawson, prevented the release of his autopsy information, even though local police and state officials wanted to release it. Duane Lawson was found dead in a burning car while parked in a Rehoboth Beach parking garage.

The Lawson lawsuit wound its way up to Delaware Supreme Court, which decided in 2006 that autopsy information is not public. However, a Delaware deputy attorney general's opinion reinstated the release of manner of death in most cases.

That practice stood until 2015, when the Office of Medical Examiner was disbanded amid a drug evidence scandal, and autopies no longer fell under the Department of Health and Social Services. A new Division of Forensic Science was created to handle autopsies, serving under the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

With the demise of the Office of Medical Examiner went any chance of receiving death information upon request, leaving it up to officials to decide what to release.

In Floyd's case, cause and manner were released by state police two days after his death. The autopsy determined the manner of Floyd's death was a homicide caused by trauma.

Still, Saundra Floyd wants to know more. “Overrule the state's many lawyers and address our suffering,” she wrote to Gov. John Carney. “Respect the memory of my dear husband and my family that much.”

Her latest plea follows a letter to Carney written March 6 by Floyd family attorney Thomas Neuberger.

In the letter, Neuberger places blame on a broken system that put Floyd in a snake pit while working at the prison.

The Floyd family is asking officials to identify Floyd's murderer and conspirators, and make sure they are convicted and punished. If the family does not receive justice in 30 days, the letter states, they will move forward with a wrongful death lawsuit.

Delaware State Police continue to investigate the Feb. 1 prison siege. Carney also commissioned an independent review by two retired judges, requiring a report by Aug. 15. Hudson said the two investigations are separate, and completion of one has no bearing on when the other investigation will be completed.

Saundra Floyd's most recent statement mentions that state officials have demanded repayment of funeral expenses for her husband's funeral, although she does not say how much the funeral was.

“I have been threatened by lawyers for the state demanding the repayment of the funeral expenses it paid for my husband while my lawsuit gets ready,” she wrote.