Hanging In Will County Jail Spurs Lawsuit

JOLIET, IL — Nearly a year after a 27-year-old Will County Jail inmate hanged himself inside his cell and died five days later at AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center, a Chicago law firm has notified Will County officials it plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

The lawsuit surrounding the death of Joshua Novak will name the Will County Sheriff's Office and Will County Adult Detention Facility as defendants, court records filed Thursday show.

Joliet Patch previously reported that Novak was arrested May 17, 2019, by Frankfort Police on charges of attempted murder.

Court documents indicate that Novak had cut his girlfriend's body with a knife May 17, causing permanent disfigurement. He died after spending about four weeks in the Will County Jail.

On Thursday, the Chicago law firm of Kralovec, Jambois & Schwartz filed a court petition asking Will County's judges to appoint a special administrator for Novak's estate.

Novak died June 18, 2019, five days after Will County Corrections guards found him hanging with a bedsheet. His death was ruled a hanging, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide, according to a copy of Novak's Will County death certificate provided to the court.

Chicago attorney Jeffrey Schwartz has asked Will County judges to name Novak's mother, Denise Chapman, as the special administrator for the estate.

"The petitioner ... is qualified and willing to act as the special administrator of the estate of Joshua Novak for the purpose of prosecuting the above-captioned lawsuit," court documents indicate.

Novak, 27, was formerly of Highland Park, Indiana, court documents indicate.

The Will County jail facility on South Chicago Street in downtown Joliet is run by chief deputy Sheriff Dale Santerelli.