The Birmingham City Jail is a warehouse for humans where inhumane conditions and neglect from staff caused a woman’s unnecessary death, according to a claim in a federal lawsuit.

Attorneys representing the family of Angela Karen Langley Kimberly, along with another former inmate at the jail, claim the 49-year-old woman died from COVID-19 in Dec. 2022 after being ignored by jail workers and receiving minimal medical attention.

“It was a preventable tragedy caused by a deliberate and systemic disregard for human life by those entrusted with her care,” the lawsuit alleges. “Over the course of ten excruciating days, Ms. Kimberly suffered in a cold, overcrowded jail cell, struggling to breathe, pleading for medical attention, and slowly dying before the eyes of those sworn to protect her.”

Johnathan Austin, an attorney in the case, said Kimberly was left to die alone in her cell. By the time officials returned to her cell, Kimberly was dead, and rigor mortis had already set in.

Kimberly, who was jailed on suspicion of a DUI and traffic warrants, was found unresponsive during a routine cell check, Sgt. Monica Law told AL.com in a story at the time. Officials said she was in a single-person cell.

The plaintiffs are asking a jury for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and judgment ordering adequate funding for the jail including medical care and employee training.

The lawsuit also asks for independent oversight and monitoring of medical care at the jail.

The plaintiffs are Jacob Jerome Kimberly, the deceased woman’s son, along with Keisha Daniels, who was previously incarcerated at the jail and claims she was also denied medical care.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2024 and amended last week. Plaintiff’s lawyers are Austin, Richard Rice and Anthony Piazza.

Representatives for the city of Birmingham declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing city policy of not discussing pending litigation.

Austin in an interview with AL.com, said the rights of people inside the city jail do not end when cell doors slam shut behind them.

“In my experience going down to the jail to see clients, you can see that it is in deplorable condition. This is not unique to this one case,” Austin said. “People who are arrested and taken to jail, whether it’s a person who is guilty and serving their sentence, or a pretrial detention, all of these people are still U.S. citizens and deserve to have the same protections as everybody else.”

Plaintiffs claim the city has operated on an unwritten agreement to reduce costs at the Birmingham City Jail.

Jail renovations have been in the city’s budget at least since 2006 and range from roof replacement to plumbing repair, and the addition of padded cells. The city of Birmingham’s 2022-2026 capital budget noted that most of the $1.5 million set aside for renovations had been spent with just $188,586 remaining.

“By systematically underfunding jail operations, reducing medical personnel, and enforcing an unwritten policy of denying medical treatment to avoid expenses, they ensured that detainees like Ms. Kimberly were left to fend for themselves in life-threatening situations,” the lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.

“The inhumane treatment of Ms. Kimberly is not an isolated incident—it is the result of a deeply entrenched culture of negligence and deliberate indifference.”

The lawsuit claimed that Kimberly was taken to the UAB emergency room for evaluation and was given strict instructions to return to the emergency room if symptoms developed.

She complained of a cough, sore throat, and shortness of breath during medical screening. According to the medical records provided by the defendants, she was given a rapid Covid-19 test, which was positive, and immediately placed in isolation for seven days. The lawyers claim she was not prescribed any medications for her Covid-19 infection.

Human rights violations alleged in the suit include:

● Cells designed for two inmates now hold three to four, with some sleeping directly on concrete floors without mattresses.

● The jail serves two substandard meals a day, “falling far below any reasonable standard of decency.”

● No effective segregation of inmates based on offense severity or vulnerability exists.

● Mental and physical healthcare is grossly inadequate, with emergency medical needs ignored or delayed.

● The level of violence and threats among inmates increases daily due to inadequate staffing and supervision.

The jail and the need to take inmates elsewhere due to its physical condition was the source of dispute between Mayor Randall Woodfin, Sheriff Mark Pettway and the Jefferson County Commission in recent years.

Woodfin in December 2023 asked the sheriff to house Birmingham inmates charged with misdemeanor crimes. The county jail already houses people arrested on felony charges.

However, an initial arrangement collapsed after a few days in a fight over the dollar amount that the county would be reimbursed per inmate.

Woodfin and the city then sued Pettway to force him to take the inmates. That lawsuit was dismissed in Jefferson County District Court, but the city last week filed an appeal to Alabama Supreme Court.

Birmingham for at least two decades has sought an alternative to its aging city jail and its challenged condition. Ideas have included creating a regional jail and working with the county to house inmates.

When the lawsuit was filed, Jimmie Stephens, president of the Jefferson County Commission, told AL.com in February 2024 that it wasn’t the county’s role to take over Birmingham’s jail services.

“I do not feel it is the Jefferson County Commission’s responsibility to bail the city of Birmingham out of a problem that they created for themselves,” Stephens told AL.com at the time. “Jefferson County put taxpayer dollars into our facility to make sure that it was up to date and was able to service the citizens of Jefferson County. The city of Birmingham did not do that.”

Stephens said he met with Woodfin to discuss the jail issue, but the mayor failed to present a long-term goal.

Austin, who is also a former Birmingham council president and chairman of its public safety committee, said he also recalled years of talk addressing unmet needs at the jail.

“This case is not just about one woman’s suffering—it is about accountability. It is about the duty of public officials to provide humane treatment to those in their custody, a duty that protects the rights of every citizen in this country,” lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. “If the government can ignore the suffering of a sick and dying detainee in the shadows of a jail cell, then no one is truly safe from the abuse of unchecked power.”