The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of two Houston paramedics who mistakenly told a grandmother that her special-needs teenager, Jacah Jefferson, was dead.
The incident occurred in January 2021, when Stacy Williams called 911 because her grandson Jefferson, then a teenager, was having trouble urinating. Jefferson suffered from severe disabilities due to shaken baby syndrome, including seizure disorder and cerebral palsy, Fox 26 reports.
Two paramedics who responded, who were later suspended for seven days, declared the teen dead, though his grandmother said he only appeared to have no pulse because of his disabilities. A third paramedic later intervened and performed CPR.
The decision marks the end of a four-year legal battle by Williams. Her civil lawsuit alleged that the paramedics’ failure to administer CPR resulted in Jefferson being deprived of oxygen and subsequent brain damage. However, the paramedics’ attorneys successfully argued that they were protected by qualified immunity, a legal doctrine shielding government officials from lawsuits in certain circumstances.
