Tragically, when the senior jail officer proclaimed that the 21-year-old inmate strapped into that restraint chair was dead, she was correct. Although the inmate had not been checked on for 100 minutes, the requirement for checking on inmates kept in restraints is every 15 minutes. It was discovered during an internal investigation at the jail that the senior jail officer altered the restraint log to reflect that the required face-to-face observations had occurred, and the deputy who had repeatedly tased the inmate signed off on the falsified records. They both faced serious consequences for their actions.

A compliance manager for the jail pleaded with county leadership to end the jail’s contract with the medical company providing inmate health care. Ultimately, the death of the 21-year-old got a state medical association involved in an audit of medical care at the jail. The jail was placed on probation for approximately 9 months while the jail and the medical contract were inspected. A monitor informed the Sheriff that the health care of the inmates was at such a low level, it appeared that the constitutional rights of the inmates were being denied.

Nine months after that, the story of another inmate who ended up dying in jail began to develop.

Find out more about this continuing story in Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

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–Guest Contributor