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Md. Now A Defendant In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Relatives of a man with Down syndrome who died in the custody of three Frederick County sheriff's deputies have added the state of Maryland to those allegedly liable for his death.

Attorney Joseph Espo said Friday the state is the deputies' statutory employer, so it's been added and Frederick County has been dropped from a federal lawsuit filed by survivors of 26-year-old Robert Ethan Saylor.

The other defendants are the individual deputies, Regal Cinemas Inc. and Baltimore-based Hill Management Services Inc.

The amended complaint was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The state hasn't filed a response.

The New Market man died of asphyxia in January 2013 as the deputies, moonlighting as mall security officers, tried to remove him from a Frederick movie theater because he hadn't bought a ticket.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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