WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania county will pay nearly $64,000 to a company that will repair an elevator whose doors gave way at the county prison, causing a guard and an inmate to fall 60 feet to their deaths.
Luzerne County will pay KONE Inc. $63,875 to fix the elevator, including installing new gibs on the elevator doors. The devices keep the doors in place and on their tracks.
An expert told the (Wilkes-Barre) Times Leader that loose or worn gibs likely caused the doors to fail.
An inmate, 27-year-old Timothy Gilliam Jr., and guard Kristopher Moules died when they crashed through the elevator door and down the shaft at the prison in July.
The families of both men have sued various elevator firms, citing elevator equipment and maintenance problems.
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