Union County agreed to pay $200,000 to the mother of a man who suffered fatal injuries while in the county jail. Watch video
William Parisio, right, and the Cranford home where he allegedly killed his girlfriend, Pamela Schmidt, 22, of Warren Township. Parisio died after being injured in the Union Count jail. The county is paying $200,000 to settle a suit filed by Parisio's mother. (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)ELIZABETH -- Union County has quietly agreed to pay $200,000 to a woman who filed a lawsuit claiming officers fatally injured her son while he was an inmate in the county jail.
Diane McKernan agreed to the settlement of the lawsuit over the death of her son, William Parisio, on Feb. 17, 2014.
Parisio was awaiting trial for the 2011 murder of his girlfriend in a case that led to the state to outlaw "bath salts," drugs that mimic methamphetamines, powerful stimulants that cause severe psychotic episodes.
MORE: Video shows officers fatally attack son in cell, mom says
McKernan filed suit last December, claiming officers used excessive force in trying to remove him from a jail cell and that the officers failed to realize he had stopped breathing, delaying efforts to resuscitate him.
Parisio was subsequently rushed from the jail to the nearby Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth where he was later pronounced dead.
McKernan's lawyer, Anthony Macri of Parsippany, said he had seen a jailhouse video showing the 25-year-old Parisio pleading for officers to leave in his cell. Macri said the video showed officers in helmets and tactical gear rushing into the cell, holding Parisio down and restraining him with a belt across his chest, an assault that cut off the inmate's airway.
The Union County Medical Examiner determined Parisio died from cardiac dysrhythmia due to "excited delirium and physical restraint."
Included in the settlement agreement is a clause stipulating that Union County was not admitting liability.
Also, the court papers state that McKernan, Macri and the county and its lawyer are prohibited from commenting on the agreement.
"This settlement is classified as confidential," the agreement stated.
A call to Macri about the settlement was not immediately returned today.
Parisio's death was investigated by the Union County Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutor's office confirmed that the case was presented to a grand jury, but the grand jury refused to file criminal charges against any of the officers involved.
Parisio had been in jail awaiting trial for the March 2011 death of his girlfriend, Rutgers University senior Pamela Schmidt, in the Cranford home where Parisio and his mother resided at the time. Authorities said Schmidt, 22, of Warren Township, was struck with a 12-pound dumbbell and strangled. McKernan has since moved out of Cranford.
Although Parisio's mother said her son had used bath salts, toxicology tests found no trace of the drugs in him.
Following his arrest for Schmidt's death, Parisio was held in the jail, but in 2013 he was transferred from the jail to Ann Klein Forensic Center in West Trenton to stabilize his mental health, his mother has said. She said he was returned to the jail, but his health deteriorated.
Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.