A federal jury in the Central District of Illinois has awarded $3 million to the family of a man who died while incarcerated at Jacksonville Correctional Center, concluding that a prison doctor and a private medical contractor were negligent in failing to treat a life-threatening condition.
The verdict followed a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court in Springfield in the case of Catrina Larkin vs. Wexford Health Sources Inc. and Dr. Thomas Baker, according to court records. Jurors deliberated about 2½ hours before returning the award April 20.
“This was a jury trial, and I think the evidence was there,” said Louis Meyer, a Peoria civil rights attorney who represented the family in the case heard in Springfield. “The family did a good job describing the pain they’ve gone through losing their son and brother.”
But much of that pain, attorneys argued, stemmed from what Varner endured in the final weeks of his life – a steady decline marked by mounting symptoms that went largely unaddressed.
Chicago native Eugene Varner Jr., 43, was serving a five-year sentence on drug and firearm charges and was less than a year from release when he died on March 7, 2021.
After contracting COVID-19 in December 2020, Varner became seriously ill and required hospitalization, where doctors identified an elevated risk of blood clots and placed him on blood thinners. Records show that treatment was not continued when he returned to Jacksonville Correctional Center.
Weeks later, after slipping on a wet floor and injuring his knee, Varner’s condition worsened. He was placed on crutches, limiting his mobility – another major risk factor for clotting – yet was still not given anticoagulant medication.
According to trial testimony, Varner repeatedly sought help as his symptoms intensified. What began as knee pain evolved into swelling that spread down his leg and into his foot – a classic warning sign of deep vein thrombosis. Despite that, Meyer said, medical staff failed to recognize the significance of the change.
“He was telling them something was wrong with his leg,” Meyer said. “The swelling wasn’t getting better – it was getting worse and extending. That’s a red flag.”
Varner also began experiencing shortness of breath, another hallmark symptom of a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism. Instead of triggering further testing or treatment, those complaints were dismissed, with medical staff attributing his condition to less serious causes, including diet, according to testimony, Meyer said.
“They never did a workup. They never tried to confirm what was going on,” he added.
A physician who reviewed the case for the family concluded that Varner had multiple, compounding risk factors – including a prior history of deep vein thrombosis, recent COVID-19 infection, elevated clotting indicators, trauma to his leg and prolonged immobility – all of which should have prompted preventative treatment with anticoagulants. Instead, Varner’s condition continued to deteriorate. In the days before his death, he complained to family members about severe leg pain and difficulty breathing.
His sister, Catrina Larkin, said she could hear the strain in his voice during their final conversations.
“He was in so much pain in his leg and his feet,” she said. “And I could hear that he was short-winded.”
Despite those symptoms, he was told he would have to wait days to see medical staff again, she said.
On the morning of March 7, 2021, Varner was found in distress – sweating heavily, struggling to breathe and in acute medical crisis. He went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived. An autopsy later determined he died from a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot in his leg.
A reviewing physician concluded that, more likely than not, Varner would have survived had he received appropriate anticoagulation treatment.
Outside of prison, Varner was known as a hard worker and caregiver. Family members said he held factory jobs earlier in life and later became the primary caretaker for his mother after she underwent traumatic brain surgery. He also earned money as a licensed street vendor in Chicago, selling light-up toys and novelties at large events such as festivals and gatherings in Grant Park. He never married and did not have children but remained close to his mother and sisters.
Jurors ultimately found both Wexford Health Sources, the private company contracted to provide prison health care, and Baker liable for medical negligence, though they rejected a separate constitutional claim alleging deliberate indifference.
Meyer said jurors indicated after the trial that the legal standard for the constitutional claim was difficult to meet.
“They thought it basically meant the doctor had to completely abandon the patient,” he said.
For Varner’s family, the verdict brought a measure of accountability but little comfort.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Larkin. “Justice was served for my brother, but it’s not going to bring him back.”
She described her brother – known as “Mookie” – as a kind and gentle man who cared for others, including helping elderly neighbors and serving as a caregiver for their mother.
“He didn’t deserve to die in the hands of the correctional facility that way,” she said. “It didn’t have to end like that.”
Larkin said she still vividly remembers the call informing her of his death.
“That was the worst day of my life,” she said. “I can’t get that phone call out of my head.”
The case underscores broader concerns about medical care in Illinois prisons, where services are provided by private contractors. Meyer said complaints from inmates about delayed or inadequate care are common.
“We get letters daily from inmates complaining of medical care,” he said. “It’s routine.”
The jury’s verdict applied only to Wexford and Baker; the state of Illinois was not a defendant in the case.
Springfield lawyer Joseph N. Rupcich, who represents Wexford Health and Baker, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Illinois Times.
Larkin said the family hopes to use part of the award to start a transportation business to help families visit incarcerated loved ones – an idea inspired by her brother. They plan to name it “Mookie’s Transportation.”
“We want to do something positive in his name,” she said.
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.
Photo: Scott is trying to get a photo of the deceased and his sister
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at sreeder@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2026.
