LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has agreed to pay $479,000 to the family of a “talkative” Scottsbluff man who was strangled to death in 2017 by a fellow inmate who didn’t want a cellmate. 

The lawsuit filed by Terry Berry Jr.’s family against prison officials they argued were responsible for the 22-year-old’s death because they put him in the same cell as Patrick Schroeder was dismissed last week after both sides agreed to the settlement. 

Berry was nearing parole when he was placed with Schroeder who was serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old man. 

Schroeder later pleaded guilty to killing Berry and was sentenced to death.

By Associated PressLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has agreed to pay $479,000 to the family of a “talkative” Scottsbluff man who was strangled to death in 2017 by a fellow inmate who didn’t want a cellmate. The lawsuit filed by Terry Berry Jr.’s family against prison officials they argued were responsible for the 22-year-old’s death because they put him in the same cell as Patrick Schroeder was dismissed last week after both sides agreed to the settlement. Berry was nearing parole when he was placed with Schroeder who was serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old man. Schroeder later pleaded guilty to killing Berry and was sentenced to death.

Nebraska to pay $479,000 to settle Scottsbluff inmate death lawsuit