Warnock family plans wrongful death lawsuit
Lewiston native was killed in Kuna prison while serving a sentence for DUI; his family plans to sue state of Idaho, Department of Correction, others
BOISE — The family of Lewiston native Milo Warnock, who was killed while serving a prison sentence at Kuna, Idaho, in late 2023, wanted answers as to why he died. Now, they are pursuing legal action against the state.
The Warnock family is planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the state. The claim, which was filed on Friday, said the state of Idaho, the Idaho Department of Correction, its leaders and Centurion — the company responsible for inmate health care — acted “negligently and deliberately indifferent in preventing Warnock’s death.”
The family is asking for more than $463,000 in damages.
Warnock, who was 45, was killed Dec. 10, 2023, at the Idaho State Correctional Center in Kuna. He was serving a two-year sentence for a DUI.
No one has been charged in Warnock’s death, but his family was told by investigators that the suspect is James Michael Johnson, who was Warnock’s cellmate, according to documents the family received from the prison.
The Idaho State Police investigated Warnock’s death and forwarded the case to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, which has yet to indicate if it will file charges.
In an interview with the Tribune in January, the Warnock family described how Milo — through a series of missteps and misunderstandings — ended up in G block, or maximum security, despite his relatively minor charge.
Milo’s parents, Kathy and Mike Warnock, of Clarkston, and his sister, Hallie Johnson, of Seattle, question what happened to Milo and they place the blame for his death not only on the man who did it, but also the prison and judicial system.
“There is something wrong. As a loved one, I should have assurances that while my brother is paying his debt to society he will come out alive,” Hallie Johnson told the Tribune in January. “I never imagined this outcome.”
