Family sues South Carolina agency after autistic teen dies in restraint

The family of 16-year-old Nicholas Walter Brown has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against South Carolina’s behavioral health agency after he died in a hot room while restrained at Midlands Center in Columbia. The complaint alleges staff failed to seek medical help before using a Humane Wrap and that an autopsy linked his death to probable hyperthermia.

Why it matters: - The lawsuit alleges a state-run facility failed to protect a vulnerable, nonverbal teenager who depended entirely on caregivers. - The case could affect how South Carolina facilities use restraint devices, respond to medical distress and document emergency care. - The family is seeking accountability under South Carolina’s wrongful death and survival laws.

What happened: - Nicholas Walter Brown’s family filed a wrongful death and survival lawsuit in Richland County Court of Common Pleas against the South Carolina Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. - The case is Civil Action No. 2026-CP-40-06944. - Nicholas’s father, Brandon Lee Brown, filed the suit as personal representative of the estate. - Nicholas was 16, nonverbal and diagnosed with severe autism, intellectual disability, ADHD, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and insomnia. - Nicholas lived at Midlands Center in Columbia when he died on May 25, 2025.

The details: - The complaint says the air conditioning at Midlands Center malfunctioned that day and Nicholas’s room in the Walnut Unit became excessively hot. - The lawsuit alleges Nicholas was agitated, holding an empty water cup, hitting his head and vomiting into a trash can. - Staff allegedly did not seek a medical assessment before bringing two Humane Wraps to the room and restraining Nicholas at about 6:40 p.m. - A Humane Wrap is a thick canvas or cotton blanket that encloses a person from the torso to the feet and is secured with Velcro straps to immobilize them. - After being restrained, Nicholas allegedly called for help. - By about 6:50 p.m., Nicholas was unresponsive. - He was pronounced dead at MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast. - The autopsy concluded the cause of death was “probable hyperthermia due to being restrained in [a humane] wrap in [a] hot room.” - The complaint says Humane Wraps are intended as a last resort. - The lawsuit alleges Midlands Center staff restrained Nicholas in a Humane Wrap 29 times in a single month, with the knowledge and approval of the facility’s medical director. - The complaint also says the agency had prior notice of risks after Nicholas was allegedly physically assaulted by several staff members in November 2024. - That incident allegedly led to personnel actions and a report to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. - The complaint incorporates a video showing the events leading up to Nicholas’s death: the video referenced in the complaint.

Between the lines: - The allegations point to broader questions about restraint practices in facilities serving people with developmental disabilities. - The lawsuit also suggests multiple warning signs were present before Nicholas became unresponsive, including heat, vomiting and head banging. - The administrative review after Nicholas’s death appears to reinforce those concerns by identifying gaps in medical response and resuscitation readiness. - The case is still an accusation, not a finding of fact, and the allegations have not been proven in court.

What's next: - The lawsuit seeks damages under South Carolina’s wrongful death and survival statutes and requests a jury trial. - The court will decide the next steps as the case moves through civil litigation. - Nicholas’s family is represented by James B. Moore III, Scott C. Evans and George W. Bryan III of Evans Moore, LLC, and Aleksandra B. Chauhan of Chauhan Law, LLC. - An administrative review after the death suspended the use of Humane Wraps and cited several concerns. - Those concerns included the failure to request a medical assessment before restraint, the lack of a readily available Ambu bag for CPR and the failure to begin CPR within the first four minutes after Nicholas was observed to be unconscious.

The bottom line: - The family says Nicholas died after a preventable breakdown in care at a state facility, and the lawsuit now seeks to force public accountability.