Brian D. Mattingley had previously tried to hang himself, cut his wrist with a broken CD and repeatedly threatened suicide.
But when Mattingley, a mentally retarded patient at the state’s Wheat Ridge Regional Center, threatened to kill himself after he was denied a chance to go to a dance, no one checked on him.
So the 27-year-old went to his room and hanged himself with the cord from his video game. Staff didn’t find him until hours later.
His mother, Terri L. Wolfe of Thornton, filed a wrongful death and civil rights violation lawsuit last week against the state, the facility’s director and a psychologist at the center. The suit charges that staff ignored a treatment plan designed to prevent a suicide attempt, leading to Mattingley’s death on Dec. 17, 2005.
“I really don’t think they cared,” Wolfe said Monday. “They could have gone in and checked on him.”
The lawsuit says the state’s investigation found the facility staff failed to supervise Mattingley, but state officials declined to release the documents, citing an exception in state open- records laws.
Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said staff members were disciplined after Mattingley’s death and the facility changed procedures. The state also installed an electronic system that records when staffers check on a patient and removed objects that patients could use to hang themselves.
“We made a number of sweeping changes,” she said, adding that the only other suicide by a patient at a state facility in the past five years was at Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan in February.
But Wolfe’s attorney, Peter Harris, said Mattingley’s family believes the center still does not have adequate protections for its residents. The lawsuit was filed after the state refused to enter mediation, he said.
“They’re supposed to be there to protect these types of individuals, and they didn’t,” he said.
Moved from place to place
As a young boy, Mattingley acted out in school and was admitted to Children’s Hospital for evaluation. The process, which was supposed to take 28 days, took about five months. He was diagnosed with mild mental retardation, attention-deficit disorder, anti-social personality and Shprintzen syndrome, which includes mental and physical disorders like low IQ and heart murmur, according to medical documents and websites.
His family found they were no longer able to care for him, and he was placed in an institution. According to records, he was accused of sexually assaulting another developmentally disabled patient.
As he grew into an adult, Matt ing ley was physically and verbally abusive and had a history of property destruction and sexual assault, records show.
After being placed with the state, he was moved from place to place, according to Wolfe. He was often depressed and talked of killing himself.
In December 2000, Mattingley tried to hang himself. He would throw himself against a wall, bang his head on hard surfaces and cut his wrist.
When he was moved back to the Wheat Ridge center, Wolfe was happy because she believed it was the safest place for Mattingley. She said she called daily to check on his progress.
Mattingley loved to write songs, bowl and go to dances, according to internal center records Harris provided. Mattingley envisioned that he could become a famous country musician if he could just make it to Nashville, but facility staff told him to find more realistic goals.
His treatment plan required that he always be within visual sight of a staff member, and the facility was supposed to check on him every half-hour, according to the lawsuit.
Psychologist: not suicidal
On Dec. 15, 2005, Mattingley threatened suicide. The next day he became upset when he was told he could not go to a scheduled dance. He had not earned enough points because he missed therapy sessions, Jefferson County coroner records show.
The morning of Dec. 17, staff found him hanging from a hook on the door of his room.
His psychologist, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, told police she talked to him the night of the 16th and he did not appear to be suicidal, according to a police investigation.
The family struggled to get the state to pay for funeral services, and the state eventually provided a viewing and paid for the cremation. The facility promised to plant a tree in Mattingley’s memory, but Wolfe said it never did.
The family planted a tree in their backyard instead, installing a bench nearby where they can sit and remember Mattingley. But what sticks with Wolfe was how her son died.
“Just because someone is handicapped, it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve respect,” she said, wiping tears from her face. “He was hanging behind his door for nine hours.”
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-954-1244 or akane@denverpost.com.
