FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2026

 

CONTACT: Connease Warren, Abolitionist Law Center, 713-304-8990, connease@alcenter.org  

WHEN: Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 9AM EST
WHERE: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | 601 Market Street | Courtroom 9A
WHO: 

• Plaintiffs: Jacob and James Jung, represented by the Abolitionist Law Center 
• Defendants: City of Philadelphia; YesCare Corp; Former Commissioner of the Philadelphia Dept. of Prisons, Blanche Carney 

Philadelphia  –  A South Philly family is taking the City of Philadelphia and for-profit prison healthcare corporation YesCare to trial for causing the death of their father, Louis Jung Jr. while in pretrial detention on November 6, 2023. The 50-year-old father of three died from diabetic ketoacidosis after being deprived following a catastrophic series of failures to follow basic medical procedures and provide necessary emergency care. The trial, presided over by Judge Timothy Savage, will begin Tuesday, February 24 at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in courtroom 9a.

Mr. Jung suffered a senseless and preventable death in November 2023 from diabetic ketoacidosis after PDP and YesCare staff failed to provide him with even the most basic medical care. The last days of Mr. Jung’s life while at the PDP were harrowing, marked by a series of failures that the culmination of nearly two years of disastrous failures to provide him with proper medical care, including: 

• Failure to provide any insulin in the last six days of his life
• Failure to provide him with a diabetes care plan upon his intake to the jail
• Failure to call for emergency care when Mr. Jung’s blood glucose levels were at a dangerously high level of 542
• Failure to place him in the infirmary where his precarious health condition could be properly monitored 
• Failure to take him to a hospital to stabilize his glucose levels and monitor him during his medical emergency
• Failure to provide consistent access to glucose tests 

Throughout the period of Mr. Jung’s incarceration, which began in December 2021, the PDP and YesCare repeatedly failed to provide Mr. Jung necessary insulin, glucose checks, or an individualized treatment plan, as required by American Diabetes Association guidelines. As a consequence, Mr. Jung suffered numerous medical emergencies, including six hospitalizations due to unregulated glucose levels. Despite this 22-month history, the jail never took necessary interventions to protect Mr. Jung’s health, resulting in his tragic and preventable death. 

At least 62 people have died while in the custody of the PDP within the last five years, a high death rate for a jail system that has in recent years been the target of a federal class action lawsuit, population increases despite a shortage of hundreds of officers, and countless reports of unchecked violence, negligent medical care, and torturous solitary confinement conditions. Between 2020 and 2023, there were more than 60 hospitalizations for diabetes-related medical emergencies in PDP jails. Despite the knowledge of the seriousness of the problem, as well as the specific risk to Mr. Jung himself, PDP and YesCare failed to take steps to ensure Mr. Jung received necessary medical care, resulting in his death. Just last week another Philadelphia family filed a wrongful death suit, joining several other families in recent years who have sued Philadelphia jails, saying their loved ones did not receive adequate medical care for drug-related issues. 

On behalf of Louis Jung, and in the spirit of his memory, sons James and Jacob Jung seek justice for the callous, indifferent, and unlawful acts and omissions of defendants that resulted in the death of their father.

Jacob and James Jung v. City of Philadelphia was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs are represented by the Abolitionist Law Center.

View the Complaint here.