Macomb County asks for inmate death lawsuit to be dismissed

MACOMB COUNTY - A young man died in the custody of the Macomb County jail after suffering seizures from drug withdrawals.

David Stojcevski was in his cell when he suffered seizures caused by the withdrawals. His family is suing the county sheriff, the jail and its employees.

Officials maintain they followed protocol and now they're asking a judge to dismiss the case.

"They are guilty," said Dafinka Stojcevski, David's mother. "They need to pay the price for what they did to my son."

She and her family appeared in federal court Wednesday after attorneys for Macomb County filed a motion to dismiss their case.

The judge heard oral arguments from both sides and she will make her decision at a later date.

"We anticipate and are hopeful the judge will allow this case to proceed to the next step," said Robert Ihrie, the family's attorney. "And it will go to the next discovery phase where we will have the opportunity to, in a more detailed fashion to discover what happened and why."

The family is suing after Stojcevski died while under 24-hour observation inside his cell. He had been locked up after not paying a traffic ticket. His family argues his medical needs were not met after drug withdrawals.

"They did not watch him, they were not monitoring him," Dafinka said. "They are guilty and still have blood on their hands."

Now the question remains if this case will move forward or be dismissed.