Court rules against estate of deceased inmate; family seeks appeal

The Marion County Jail is shown at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Ocala. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

A federal court has decided that as the sister of a deceased inmate, an Ocala woman is not entitled to damages after a two-year long lawsuit against the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Now, she intends to take the case to appeals court.

Krysti Merchant and Tommie Merchant, brother and sister, are the sole surviving family members of Corey Merchant, an inmate who died in 2021 after being attacked by another inmate in the Marion County Jail. Since his death, Krysti has taken up a lengthy legal battle on behalf of herself and Tommie as the representative of their late-brother’s estate.

U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. ruled that Krysti is not entitled to damages related to pain and suffering that may have arisen from her brother’s death, granting a judgment in favor of Sheriff Billy Woods and his deputies, according to the order entered on Dec. 18, 2025.

Krysti first filed suit against the MCSO, Woods, and several deputies in November 2023. She argued that the defendants were aware of the risk to Corey’s life and could have reasonably prevented his death. Woods, Deputy Justin Kosinski, Deputy Joseph Miller and Sgt. Jerome Dukes are named as defendants.

Corey, 35, died on Nov. 13, 2021, after getting into an altercation with another inmate, Eric Lutterloah, in the Gulf Pod of the jail. Lutterloah is scheduled to stand trial for manslaughter on Feb. 18 for his role in Corey’s death.

The case centers on the Florida Wrongful Death Act, which states that after a person’s wrongful death, the estate of the decedent, depending on their relationship to him or her, may be entitled to damages for the following: loss of support and services; loss of the decedent’s companionship and protection; lost parental companionship, instruction and guidance; mental pain and suffering from the date of injury; medical or funeral costs; and loss of earnings or prospective net accumulations from an estate.

While Krysti was not a spouse, child or parent of the deceased, she argued to the court that she, on behalf of the estate, should be entitled to hedonic damages for the loss of enjoyment of life caused by the death of their brother, in addition to other non-economic damages for pain and suffering, as the only surviving family members of Corey Merchant.

Shortly after Moody’s ruling, Krysti’s attorneys filed a Notice of Appeal to take the case to the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals. They have until Feb. 18 to file an appellate brief to prove that the court should reconsider the U.S. District Court of Florida Middle District’s decision.

The scope of Krysti’s appeal will extend to all of the orders and rulings made in the original case, including the decision that the estate is not entitled to hedonic damages or pain and suffering damages.

In the meantime, Lutterloah, who has been incarcerated at the Marion County Jail since June 4, 2020, will simultaneously stand trial for a number of other charges, including two separate felony battery counts. These charges stem from incidents in which Lutterloah allegedly punched two other inmates, once in 2022 and again in 2023. Both incidents resulted in the victims suffering broken jaws.

Additionally, the Feb. 18 manslaughter trial will include Lutterloah’s original charges of failing to comply with sex offender requirements and giving a false report of a crime to law enforcement, the offenses for which he was put in jail for in 2020. Circuit Judge Barbara Kissner-Kwatkosky will preside.