SEATTLE - Robert Kincaid, a patient suffering from schizophrenia, was lying on the floor in a dayroom at Western State Hospital, choking on a piece of orange for almost eight minutes before staff members stopped to help him, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his older brother.

When workers finally turned him over and started CPR, it was too late - his brain was starved of oxygen for too long and doctors removed him from life support two days later, Sept. 8, 2012, according to the complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The lawsuit names the nurses, psychiatric security assistants, a psychiatrist and the dietitian who worked on the case. It also names Jess Jamison, who was CEO at Western State Hospital, one of Washington's two psychiatric facilities. The suit claims their "deliberate indifference" resulted in Kincaid's death.

Kincaid, 53, was mentally ill and had been arrested in August 2012 for setting his couch on fire. Because of concerns about his competency to stand trial, he was shuttled back and forth between the Snohomish County Jail and Western State Hospital.

By his last re-admission, he had lost 31 pounds, weighed only 118 pounds and lacked teeth or dentures, but neither the physician nor the clinical dietitian ordered a swallow test or special diet, the lawsuit said.

On Sept. 6, 2012, staff brought a tray of food to Kincaid's room, and moments later, he stumbled out into the common area - a piece of orange blocking his airway, the suit said.

"Within 20 seconds, he fell face forward to the floor," the suit said.

No workers helped him, despite calls from two patients who said Kincaid was in trouble, the suit said.