NSBHF Brings Lawsuit on Behalf of Man Killed in BOP Custody

The national civil rights law firm Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP (NSBHF), together with co-counsel Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick LLP (KLLF), Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin LLP, and Levy Firestone Muse LLP, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the Estate of David Blakeney and his mother Ginetta Bynum, seeking justice for Mr. Blakeney’s brutal and entirely preventable death while incarcerated at United States Penitentiary (USP) Canaan in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”). Mr. Blakeney was only 32 years old when he died.

“My son was in pain and asking for help, and they just ignored him until it was too late,” said Ginetta Bynum, Mr. Blakeney’s mother. “I think about it every day, how he must have been crying out for someone to help him, and no one came. They let my baby die like he was nothing.”

This lawsuit seeks accountability from a prison system that ignored repeated cries for help. Mr. Blakeney died from a massive, untreated ulcer in his small intestine—a painful but easily treatable condition. For months, he reported severe abdominal and rectal pain. But USP Canaan staff did nothing except give him ibuprofen, a medication known to cause and worsen ulcers. Staff never even attempted to diagnose the cause of his increasingly severe symptoms.

Instead of treating Mr. Blakeney, personnel at USP Canaan made his condition worse in the weeks before his death. Though he had a documented history of mental illness, staff responded to his psychological distress not with care, but with abject cruelty. They chained him to a bed in hard, four-point restraints—at times, face down—for nine consecutive days. During that time, USP Canaan staff not only deprived Mr. Blakeney of basic medical care, they also subjected him to repeated physical violence, even as his condition visibly deteriorated. Mr. Blakeney was beaten, pepper-sprayed, denied food and water, and ultimately left to die slowly and alone. At autopsy, he was found to have open wounds on his wrists and ankles from the metal restraints as well as unexplained bruises and cuts all over his body, including two black eyes.

“David Blakeney was restrained, ignored, and left to die in federal custody,” said Katie McCarthy, counsel at NSBHF. “No one should die of a treatable condition just because they’re incarcerated. What happened to David wasn’t a one-time mistake—it was the result of a callous system that responds to mental illness with punishment and to medical suffering with indifference. BOP staff had every opportunity to save David’s life. Instead, they ignored every warning sign that he was in crisis. This lawsuit is about justice—not just for the unbearable suffering David endured, but for his mother, who now has to live every day with the knowledge her son was left to die alone.”

This lawsuit alleges violations of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Federal Tort Claims Act, and Pennsylvania law. It exposes the inhumane and unconstitutional treatment inflicted on a young man in BOP custody—treatment that was not only cruel but unlawful.

“Hour after hour, day after day, for nearly two weeks, David was shackled by his wrists and ankles to a bed.” said KLLF partner Ali Frick. “He was starving, in pain, and spiraling psychologically, but BOP staff silenced his suffering with brute force. The BOP must be held accountable for the cruel mistreatment that caused David so much pain and suffering and ultimately robbed him of his life.”

Attorneys Nick Brustin, Katie McCarthy, and Katie Cion, and paralegal Jackie Ochoa Acevedo of Neufeld Scheck Brustin Hoffmann & Freudenberger, LLP, along with Ali Frick and Ray Durham of Kaufman Lieb Lebowitz & Frick, Jonathan Feinberg of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin, LLP, and Josh Levy and Julianna Andonian of Levy Firestone Muse are representing Mr. Blakeney’s Estate and Ms. Bynum. The lawsuit, captioned Bynum v. United States of America, is Docket No. 3:25-cv-00895 (KM) in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. A copy of the complaint is available here.