Parents of Jadiyus Williams File Lawsuit Alleging Professional Negligence in Son’s Death

Wrongful Death and Professional Negligence Lawsuit Pending in Chatham County Superior Court Against Coastal Harbor Health System and Psychiatric Providers

POOLER, GA, UNITED STATES, August 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Horne Law Firm, P.C. and Conn Law, LLC have filed a wrongful death and professional negligence lawsuit on behalf of Whitney Roberts, individually and as Administrator of the Estate of Jadiyus Williams, and James Williams, the surviving parents of Jadiyus Williams. The lawsuit, Civil Action No. SPCV26-00726-MO, is pending in the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia, and names as defendants UHS of Savannah, LLC d/b/a Coastal Harbor Health System; Saleem Sayyar, MD (who states in his answer that his name is correctly spelled Seleem Sayyar, M.D.); Nohl Braun, MD; C. Ashley Richards, FNP; and Elizabeth E. Smith, FNP. The action was filed as a renewal action pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-2-61 following the voluntary dismissal without prejudice of a previously filed lawsuit, Civil Action No. STCV26-01368, in the State Court of Chatham County.

According to the complaint, Jadiyus Williams, age 18, had been experiencing mental health issues in the months prior to November 2024 and had recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Court documents state that his mother initiated involuntary commitment proceedings, that the Probate Court of Liberty County entered an Order to Apprehend on November 12, 2024, and that on November 13, 2024, Jadiyus was taken into custody by police and transported to Coastal Harbor Health System in Savannah for inpatient psychiatric treatment.

The complaint alleges that, upon admission, Jadiyus was found to have homicidal ideations, was diagnosed with major depressive disorder with psychosis, met the criteria for involuntary inpatient admission, and was ordered to be monitored every 15 minutes. According to court documents, his attending physician, Dr. Sayyar, ordered family therapy as part of his treatment plan, and his records identified “family support” as his only noted protective factor; the complaint alleges that family therapy was never provided. The complaint further alleges that on November 17, 2024, Jadiyus reported that “spirits consistently talk to him,” and that the records reflect no apparent follow-up to that report.

The complaint alleges that on November 20, 2024, Dr. Sayyar signed Jadiyus’s discharge paperwork without apparently evaluating him or implementing a family or community safety plan, that his prescribed Depakote and Zyprexa were not administered on the day of discharge, and that his insight and judgment were still rated only “fair” with a decline in his behavioral presentation shortly before discharge. According to the complaint, Jadiyus’s family received no advance notice of the discharge, and Ms. Roberts learned of her son’s release when he arrived at her home by medical transport.

The complaint further alleges that although Coastal Harbor documented that Jadiyus’s medical records were to be faxed to Gateway BHS, the outpatient provider designated for his November 25, 2024 follow-up appointment, no such fax was ever sent or received. According to court documents, Ms. Roberts drove Jadiyus to Gateway BHS as instructed on the morning of November 25, 2024, and found the facility closed. The complaint states that Jadiyus became upset in the parking lot and left his mother on foot, and that she never saw him alive again.

According to the complaint, police body camera footage from November 29, 2024 showed Jadiyus in a psychotic state at a Chatham County gas station — thinking irrationally and partially unclothed. Court documents state that he was later found walking on the shoulder of Interstate 95, fled from a responding officer across several lanes of traffic, and was struck by a vehicle traveling at highway speed. He was pronounced dead at the scene on November 29, 2024, at 18 years old. The complaint also alleges that the defendants failed to communicate with Jadiyus’s family regarding his medications, his conditions, or the signs and symptoms that would require the family to seek additional care. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1, the complaint is accompanied by the affidavit of David S. Husted, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist, setting forth professional negligence opinions as to each named defendant.

The defendants have filed answers to the complaint. In answers filed June 11, 2026, Dr. Sayyar and Dr. Braun each deny that they violated the applicable standard of care and deny that any act or omission on their part caused or contributed to the alleged injuries and damages. Each asserts affirmative defenses including intervening and superseding causation, contends that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, denies being an employee of UHS during the relevant period, and disputes that the affidavit of Dr. Husted complies with O.C.G.A. §§ 9-11-9.1 and 24-7-702. Both physicians state that the medical records speak for themselves and that they are without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the circumstances of Jadiyus’s death.

Court documents reflect that certain factual allegations are admitted. According to the answers, both physicians admit that Depakote and Zyprexa were prescribed and that Jadiyus was discharged with prescriptions for those medications on November 20, 2024, and both generally admit that family therapy was not provided to Jadiyus during his admission, while generally denying that family therapy was ordered. Dr. Sayyar admits that he treated Jadiyus during the admission and that he signed the discharge paperwork. The nurse practitioner defendants state that they did not provide psychiatric care to Jadiyus during his admission. All parties have demanded a trial by jury.

The lawsuit seeks damages under Georgia’s Wrongful Death Act for the full value of Jadiyus’s life, as well as recovery by the Estate for his pre-death pain and suffering and for funeral, burial, and medical expenses.

The allegations described above are drawn from the pleadings filed in Civil Action No. SPCV26-00726-MO. No findings of fact or determinations of liability have been made by any court, and the defendants’ filings dispute the plaintiffs’ claims.

Counsel for the Plaintiffs:

Derek E. Horne
THE HORNE LAW FIRM, P.C.
100 Blue Moon Crossing, Ste 114
Pooler, GA 31322
(912) 800-4878
derek@horne.law

Andrew J. Conn
CONN LAW, LLC
119 W. Perry Street
Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 356-4323
andy@connlawfirm.com

Derek E. Horne
The Horne Law Firm, PC
912-800-4878
derek@horne.law
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