Former inmate who got paralyzed after being beaten by gang members to receive $7M settlement

Daquan Wallace’s attorney said he was beaten by his fellow inmates at the old Baltimore Detention Center because he refused to join a gang. The attack, which happened almost 10 years ago, left him paralyzed, CBS News reported.

On March 1, the Attorney General’s Office recommended the Black man be paid $7 million as a settlement after it determined the 2014 attack was a result of “plenty of negligence” by correctional officers.

“He refused to join a gang,” Wallace’s attorney, Larry Greenberg said. The attorney also claims correctional officers and the Black Guerrilla Family gang members arranged for the attack to happen. Wallace was alone in a cell that was not locked at the time of the beating. He was also not protected.

“The cell door was opened up. Two gang members came in,” Greenberg said. “They beat him, left him for dead, had smashed his head up against the wall.”

The money to be paid to Wallace will be taken from the state fund. “We need this money, but instead, we’re paying it out for improper, unacceptable behavior,” Maryland State Treasure Dereck Davis said.

The officers accused of allowing the beating to happen have since retired, Corrections Secretary Carolyn Scruggs said, adding that they did not also face any disciplinary action at the time. “We are actually disciplining people at all levels, from counseling to suspension to termination, based on inappropriate actions,” said Scruggs.

Scruggs also said additional background checks and training have since been initiated as a result of incidents of such nature. “He has texted multiple people indicating, ‘I just want his life back,’ and today is a step in the right direction to get his life back,” Greenberg said.

Authorities closed the old Baltimore Detention Center in 2015. That was months after Wallace was attacked.