Huerfano County Sheriff's Office settles lawsuit for $10 million after Colorado inmate fatally injured in custody
The family of a Colorado man will receive a $10 million settlement after they say he was injured by a corrections officer and left to die while incarcerated in Huerfano County.
Sixty-nine-year-old Michael John Burch was an inmate at the Huerfano County Detention Center when he suffered multiple broken ribs during an interaction with a corrections officer, resulting in internal bleeding, according to the coroner's report.
His family filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff's office, medical personnel, and the county's board of commissioners, claiming that he was injured by the corrections officer and that staff then refused to treat him, resulting in his death more than a week later.
Burch was a former corrections officer in California who later moved to Walsenburg, Colo. He was arrested on suspicion of felony menacing and harassment on March 25, 2023.
His estate said that he entered the jail in the midst of a mental health crisis, but was in good physical health at the time. They claim that a detention officer broke several of Burch's ribs after he refused to let go of a pencil, resulting in several punctured organs and internal bleeding.
However, his estate says he was not taken to a hospital for treatment. Instead, they allege that he was placed in a cell with the window covered up and was not given an examination, even as he physically declined and continued to plead for medical care.
Burch was discovered dead inside his cell on April 4, 2023.
Photos of Burch provided by his family appear to show extensive, deep bruising across his torso.
Content warning: photos below may be disturbing to some viewers.
An autopsy report found Burch died "as a result of blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen. These injuries were incurred when the decedent was tased and wrestled to the ground by law enforcement, striking his right chest and flank at the Huerfano County Jail."
Court documents show that, on May 28, 2026, the Huerfano County Board of Commissioners and the sheriff's office agreed to pay Burch's estate $10 million to settle the lawsuit.
