Syracuse, N.Y. — The father of a 25-year-old man who died in the Oneida County jail has filed a federal lawsuit alleging correction officers and nurses stood by for minutes while he suffered a seizure and lay unresponsive on the floor.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, alleges that staff at the Oneida County Correctional Facility ignored clear signs that Antwan Cater was in medical crisis on Feb. 13, 2024.

Staff did not begin CPR until 15 minutes after he was found unresponsive on his cell floor, the lawsuit says. Body-worn camera footage also shows staff joking while Cater remained unresponsive, the lawsuit said.

Cater, of Utica, was being held on a low-level probation violation tied to substance use. He died in the jail’s medical u

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