oklahoma county jail deaths 2021oklahoma county jail deaths 2021

Between 2016 and 2019, the jails mortality rate was 4.77 deaths per 1,000 inmates. Oklahoma County entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Justice in 2009 that required the county to adequately fund and staff the jail by 2014, or face court action from the federal government to force compliance. I think were starting to have those conversations and change our views about it in Oklahoma., Keaton Ross is a Report for America corps member who covers prison conditions and criminal justice issues for Oklahoma Watch. Prosecutors say the disbarred attorney used a shotgun to blow off his son's head and a rifle to execute his wife at about 8:50 p.m. June 7, 2021. Apparently, the third went to central control but was unanswered. I know I had an attitude but that dude did me dirty.. Some jail staff quit last year after the jail trust cracked down the use of physical force against prisoners, said one former detention officer who was fired by the new administration in 2020 after an altercation with an inmate who refused to return to his cell in order to take a shower. It was traumatic for us, Autrey said, who was in a cell about five feet away from Lane, I kept telling him to fight back.. The Oklahoma Medical Examiners office now has the body and will determine the cause of death. After the third repeat I wanted to scream, Newell wrote. What happened: A jailer found Rhodes laying on the floor of his cell, blue and unresponsive after he did not get up for breakfast. Many of the charges stem from uses of force against prisoners who left their cells at unauthorized times to shower or use the restroom amid jail staffing shortages. Officers notified EMSA paramedics, who cleared the woman for incarceration, he said. Name: Christopher HetheringtonAge: 39Died: Jan. 15, 2020Location: LeFlore County Detention Center in Poteau. District 2 County Commissioner Brian Maughan said that while its important to take each death seriously, there are a variety of factors that contribute to fatalities. Merrell was oxygen dependent and under doctors care on the medical floor during his entire stay, according to a news release from the jail. Cause and manner of death: The state Medical Examiner determined German died because of acute methamphetamine intoxication. Location: Haskell County Criminal Justice Center in Stigler. He had been suicide watch. According to District 3 County Commissioner and trust member Kevin Calvey, those conversations are more interesting than what the public sees. Even before the jail trust took over the jail, in July 2020, Oklahoma County was well ahead of the national average for jail deaths. Many of the dead were discovered unresponsive by staff making routine rounds. About 30 minutes later, Reagan appeared to again have a seizure. They have a lot more liberty to do what they want because so many officers have either left and went to another job or resigned or have just been fired, the man said. And to avoid any appearance of impropriety, I voluntarily disqualified our office.. Gregory Davis, 53 (DOB 5-10-68), who was alone in his cell, was found "unresponsive" by jail staff who were making a mental health check at 9:12 a.m. Thursday, August 12. Its actually worse than has been out in public, Calvey, who is running for district attorney, said during a debate hosted by NonDoc in June As I said, the former sheriff was not at all transparent. On the morning of January 6, Ward was found unresponsive in her cell and was transported to a Tulsa hospital where she was pronounced dead 20 minutes following her arrival, according to an incident report the city sent to the state jail inspector. There were 73 deaths at the Oklahoma County Jail from 2000 to 2019, according to data gathered by Oklahoma Watch and Reuters. A nurse checked for a pulse but could not find one. In 2021, Prater received permission to impanel a grand jury to investigate, among other things, lethal uncorrected mismanagement of the Oklahoma County Jail under the supervision of the jail trust. Between 2016 and 2019, the jails mortality rate was 4.77 deaths per 1,000 inmates. The inmate was shot and killed by Oklahoma City police officers, officials said. But he was a good person. OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. ( KFOR) - Records show 14 Oklahoma County Detention Center inmates have died this year and after receiving seven of their toxicology . We had several lawsuits against the county for things involved in the jail. Thats not even a strong enough description of how I feel. (Tres Savage) Amid a flood of controversy and bad press surrounding problems at the Oklahoma County . At the start of the pandemic, government officials and justice systems across the U.S. scrambled to reduce inmate populations and make pretrial release accessible to more criminal defendants. With five months left in 2022, this years current total of 12 is likely to grow. I wanted to share first that they did have praise for the jail administration and leadership that is currently there. Outside of hourly sight checks, medication and meal deliveries, prisoners at the Oklahoma County Detention Center are mostly alone in their housing units without direct supervision. Death Records are kept by Vital Records Offices or Oklahoma County Clerk's Offices, which may be run by the state or at the local level. However it also noted that failure to secure funding does not release the County from the duty to provide constitutional conditions at the jail.. The inmate, Gabriel Yalartai, 40, died. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The former head of Oklahoma's prison system was appointed Monday to the Oklahoma County Jail Trust. State law requires jailers to visually check on prisoners in their cells at least once an hour, but the guard assigned to the 13th floor that night was busy escorting an inmate to the medical clinic and missed one of her rounds, according to court records. In a 2017 report sponsored by the Priority Criminal Justice Needs Initiative, a panel of corrections administrators, researchers and health care professionals outlined policies that can help reduce inmate deaths from illness and suicide. But Blumert, who is facing Anastasia Pittman in a runoff for the District 1 seat later this month, said she has less input over the jail than she did before the trust took over. Jail nurses performed CPR on the man. Joshua Rhett Miller. Management. County jail administrators address inmate death, jail conditions. At the request of his family, the mans name was not released to public; On May 13, staff discovered Eddie Garcia, 25, unresponsive in his cell at about 2 a.m. And health care inside jails can vary widely. Heatherington was found unresponsive. Cause and manner of death: Possible suicide by hanging, Location: David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa. Location: Muskogee County Detention Facility in Muskogee. But the real question we should be asking is what can we do to prevent people from ending up in a jail cell in the first place.. I think that, honestly, if were meeting those standards its just barely, if at all, she said. To say Im concerned or to say its concerning that just sounds like Im minimizing it, Prater said. Jailers placed Reagan in a wheelchair and took him to the nursing office to be assessed, the report states. There are about 547,000 people housed inside Americas city and county jails, and, while most of them leave those facilities alive, some do not. What happened: Jailers found Alexander unresponsive on the floor of a jail day room. Due to pre-existing medical issues, some deaths are unrelated to a detainees time in our facility. Cause and manner of death:The state Medical Examiner determined Hetherington died from hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. More: Oklahoma County detention officer fired after jail suicide. Beaumont said an example of a successful diversion program is the Tulsa Sobering Center, which diverts individuals suspected of public intoxication to a specialized treatment facility rather than the county jail. Oklahoma County officials have tried for years to secure funding to build a new jail, with no success. Brad Lane screamed for help repeatedly the night he was beaten to death by his cellmate in the Oklahoma County Detention Center in January. NonDoc regrets the error.). Oklahoma Countys agreement with the Department of Justice required it to hire enough staff so that each jail housing unit or pod would have at least one detention officer to continuously monitor prisoners. Oklahoma City's award-winning independent news, Oklahoma County Jail has ninth death so far this year, First Person Paula Sophia Manhood, from the inside out, OKC Law Enforcement Task Force looks at police-community reform recs, Manhood from the inside out part 23 Crash Landing, Pilot street outreach program approved by OKC City Council, City Council approves new 9 p.m. Bricktown curfew time for minors, Oklahoma County Jail detainee dies in local hospital, Commissioners appoint state leader to Okla County Jail Trust, Rape kit backlog persists at state level but is cleared in City of OKC, Moore City Council approves recycling ballot measure. His cellmate, Shaquile D Shaun Brown (left), confessed after being taken to a hospital for a mental assessment, the Oklahoma State . The inmate, Brad Lane, was beaten with his own medical walking boot on Jan. 2, 2021, as he screamed for 40 minutes for help. April 5, 2021 12:25pm. Jail staff then . The Oklahoma County jail in Oklahoma City is pictured on May 11, 2022. No member of the trust questioned Williams on the circumstances of the deaths. Donate to The Frontier to support local independent investigative journalism. From 2016 through 2019, the jail had 40 deaths and an average annual mortality rate of 4.77 deaths per 1,000 inmates. They are chronically understaffed, and I believe the trust has been dishonest about their staffing levels. Hollins is the third inmate to die in the Oklahoma County Detention Center since the start of 2021. a doctor declared Gonzales deceased at 4:57 p.m.The cause of death is unknown at this time.Gonzales was booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center on Oct. 16, 2021. Were dealing with a fentanyl epidemic that has exploded nationally, and we have seen the impact here, he said. Tweet With five months left in 2022, this year's current total of 12 is likely to . Oldham had Lanes name tattooed on her arm after he died. The Oklahoma County Jail contracts with Turn Key Health for its medical services. Local jails report inmate deaths to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics annually. Name: Michael GuthrieAge: 47Died: Jan. 13, 2020Location: Muskogee County JailCause and manner of death: UndeterminedWhat happened: Guthrie was assaulted by another inmate on January 3, and taken to a hospital for treatment according to KTUL. Yalartai had not been checked in almost 12 hours . July 28, 2020: As COVID-19 surges locally, 33 inmates and six people who . Despite efforts by staff to revive him, Moore was pronounced dead. Paramedics and firefighters started to administer CPR and continued as they took Davis to the hospital. The woman later recounted the alleged assault in a letter from jail to her father. Reagan was booked into the jail after being indicted on federal charges on Jan. 10, 2020. Documented insufficient staffing levels and the overall poor condition of the 30-year old jail building have contributed to high death rates and a lack of basic rights for prisoners at the jail over the past decade. Brewer is also accused of punching a male detainee in the head with a closed fist while the prisoner was using the toilet and refused to return to his cell. Oklahoma County transitioned control of the jail from the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office to a public trust in July 2020 in hopes of reform, but problems have persisted. They raised concerns regarding conflicts of interest. Inmate deaths continue to mount, and calls for better oversight continue to grow louder from activists and officials alike. The first death occurred on Jan. 2 when 40-year-old Brad Leon Lane was allegedly killed by his . According to data compiled by Prison Policy Initiative, from 2000 to 2018, suicide was the leading cause of deaths for those incarcerated in city and county jails, accounting for around 30 percent of deaths. Oklahoma County jail inmate Brad Leon Lane, 40 (right), died. Former detention officer Steven Blake Brewer faces two separate charges of misdemeanor assault against prisoners at the jail in connection with incidents before and after the jail trust took control of the facility. Last January, jail officials released video footage of Ellis begging for help. Cause and manner of death: Possible stroke. Ward was scheduled to appear before a judge the morning she died, records show. Im sick and tired of it is the best way I can put it.. Cause and manner of death: The state Medical Examiner determined Rhodes died from cardiac tamponade. He kept saying hes killing me, help me, hes killing me, said Christopher Autrey, who was held in a cell on the 13th floor near Lane. Ward was last seen sleeping in her bunk that morning, the report states. We give voice to those who arent heard and expose that which is hidden from the public. The Oklahoma County Detention Center reported an especially high number of inmate deaths. There have been at least 84 deaths at the Oklahoma County Detention Center since 2009, according to data compiled by The Frontier and an investigation into jail death rates by Reuters. The two former detention officers, Christian Miles and Gregory Butler, and a former supervisor who allegedly knew about the Baby Shark listening sessions now face misdemeanor criminal charges. 3:06. Updated: Sep 13, 2022 / 06:14 PM CDT. Just after 4 p.m. local time, as medication was being given to the inmates, the officer was overpowered and taken . The current jail trust is transparent. As with many jobs, it takes real-time experience in the field for each person to figure out if he or she is cut out for a career in this field., Prisoners can rig their cell doors open in order to take a shower. Shes haunted by thoughts that she could have tried to scrape together enough money to post his bond. The medical unit is located on the 13th floor, a fact that can be problematic in an emergency because of the need to use elevators to get to the ground level from the top floor. Of the 148 Oklahoma inmate deaths identified in the Reuters investigation, 141 were awaiting trial and had not been convicted. Tricia Everest, chairwoman of the trust that now oversees the jail says these numbers are about equivalent to staffing levels the jail has maintained in years past. The trust has increased training time for recruits and has also begun providing more time in the jail for officers to see what the job is like. Friend Staci Baumann said Lane struggled with depression and used drugs to escape. Reagan became unresponsive, the report states. Share On July 5, jail administrator Greg Williams presented the jail trust with his monthly report. Those housed at the center are given 10 hours to sober up and receive immediate access to substance abuse treatment. Share But cell doors throughout most of the facility have faulty doors and locking mechanisms that prisoners can easily rig to open to move around freely in their housing units and maybe even sneak in an unsanctioned shower. Inmate death is 5th of 2021 at Oklahoma County jail. The Department of Justice declined to comment or provide basic details on the status of its settlement with Oklahoma County. Oklahoma County Jail death makes eight in 2021 investigation begins. We should be investing in more mental health pods and psychiatric units, and minimizing the amount of time an individual spends in general population if theyre screened to have a mental illness and be suicidal, Beaumont said. Slavens was found unconscious and taken to a hospital. We will update this page as more information is . Jail transport was told he needed to be taken to a hospital. Prater said the number of deaths at the jail since the trust took over in 2020 is unprecedented in his eyes. Law students, led by professor Madalyn Wasilczuk, compiled data showing 777 deaths across 52 facilities, including state-run prisons, local detention centers, and a . Gregory Davis, 53 (DOB 5-10-68), who was alone in his cell, was found unresponsive by jail staff who were making a mental health check at 9:12 a.m. Thursday, August 12. He said he believes the Department of Justice should seek a court order in highly complex cases like the one involving the Oklahoma County Detention Center. Get-Out-of-Jail Card: 12 Times Judges Decided Being 'Transgender' is 'Punishment Enough' for Criminals - Women Are Human . Lanes screams started after prisoners received their evening meal trays and there were no detention officers on the floor, Autrey said. He was pronounced dead 13 days later. The pay is low, about $3,000 a month, and working conditions can be dangerous. Last week, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice visited the Oklahoma County jail for three days. The sheriff's office . He believes the detention officers singled him out for the punishment after he rigged the old, faulty lock in his cell so he could walk freely around the jail pod, shower and use a toilet with more privacy than the one in his shared living area. The Department of Justice was on site for about three days, and they brought several experts in the mental health field, medical field and in detention facilities, said Williams, who serves as outside counsel for the trust. The latter part of her remarks drew jeers from members of the Peoples Council for Justice Reform, a local activist group whose members frequently speak at jail trust meetings. Shot by Shot: Tracking Oklahoma police shootings in 2023, Listen Frontier: Sen. James Lankford speaks with The Frontier about abortion, immigration and more, Frontier content sharing and collaboration terms. Updated. February 22, 2021 . Bishop had been booked in June 6, 2021. Basco was in custody facing drug charges at the time. Some outside audits have suggested it could take as many as 600 or 700 detention officers to fully staff the jail, said Tricia Everest, chairwoman of the trust that now oversees the jail. Along with our new body scanner, weve modernized intake procedures to better spot contraband. For three months prior to her death, public defenders say they had tried to find an outpatient mental health facility that would accept Gonzales. On Oct. 22, 2015, 26-year-old Terral Ellis, Jr. died of sepsis and pneumonia after staff at the Ottawa County Jail mocked him and ignored his pleas for medical attention for several hours. Chairman Jim Couch simply thanked him for the report and moved that it be accepted by the trust. Six states Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont were excluded from the investigation because their state corrections department oversees pretrial detention facilities. Organizers and voting rights advocates say the proposed changes could benefit well-financed groups with the resources to collect more signatures. An inmate described as having a chronic health condition died Wednesday night at the Oklahoma County jail, 10 days after his arrest. Quintana-Lujan was booked into Maricopa County Jail on Sunday on suspicion of two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment and two counts of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation. Location: Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City. A detention officer at the Oklahoma County jail was fired Monday, one day after an inmate was found hanging in his cell. An Oklahoma County jail inmate died, causing authorities to investigate. Our fight against contraband is multifaceted and ever-evolving. Seven inmates have died there in the last three months and at least 84 inmates there have died since 2009, a rate more than double the national average. What happened: On June 26, 2020, Merrell was booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center. Taylor, who left office in January, said in December that the Department of Justice and county officials met in 2019, when inspectors said they had seen enough improvements at the jail to release the county from the agreement, but wanted to wait until the jail trust took over to ensure progress continued. There were situations in which inmates were abused. The frequency of deaths at the jail has been particularly high in the past couple of years. Oklahoma County jail trust facing two new lawsuits. We always take it seriously when people die in our jail. Last year, four former inmates sued the jail following a 2019 incident in which they were forced to listen to the song Baby Shark on a loop for hours. The Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office reported 254 cases of prisoners assaulting detention officers in 2018. By the time detention officers arrived nearly an hour later, Lane was unresponsive. County officials should also look to divert certain low-level offenders to treatment facilities and detox centers, he said. In 2019, members of the House narrowly rejected Senate Bill 252, a measure that would have directed judges to set bail at an amount reasonably necessary to ensure the persons return to court. OKLAHOMA CITY ( Free Press) A heart attack may be the cause of the eighth death of a detainee at the Oklahoma County Detention Center or Jail in 2022. Nearly 800 people died in South Carolina jails and prisons between 2015 and 2021, according to a new report from researchers at the University of South Carolina School of Law. I was just trying to have some civil way of living its inhumane, Basco said. Others die by suicide or overdose, which is often due to contraband entering the facility. Just because there has been some level of justice involvement that has led to your detention doesnt mean you deserve any less, he said. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Sheriff Chris Bryant told a reporter for the Daily Ardmoreite that the man had a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and died of a heart attack. COVID-19 cases at jail surge. In the June 28 election, Oklahoma County voters approved fundingto build a new jail, but that new facility is still years away from being a reality. Thats why you hear more things now than in the past. A jail blanket was attached to the cell door and wrapped around his neck. One jailer reported that her breathing seemed shallow during the night and later found her unresponsive in the early morning hours of July 6. Nonetheless, on Monday, at a monthly meeting of the jail trust, which oversees the facility, attorney Paula Williams painted an optimistic picture of the DOJ visit. The remainder were caused by homicide, accident or substance abuse. Lane was facing multiple criminal charges at the time of his death, including possession of a stolen vehicle, drug possession and reckless driving. 1:21. The U.S. jail population declined 24% between June 2019 to June 2020, according to statistics compiled by the Vera Institute of Justice. The detention center also now uses 31 contract law enforcement officers to watch over prisoners when they are sent to local hospitals to receive medical care. He had been booked March 23; On the evening of March 11, jail staff found Charles Moore, 48, unresponsive in his cell while passing out medication. The Frontier is again tracking every jail death in Oklahoma in 2020. Andy Ngo reports for the Post Millenial that "so far, six Antifa defendants took plea deals over their role in the attack and are awaiting sentencing. First responders transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Most Oklahoma jails lack the funding and resources necessary to implement these kinds of changes. Among those who die in jail by suicide, the median time from booking to death was just nine days, according to the data compiled by Prison Policy Initiative. Location: Oklahoma County Detention Center. Jail staff then called for medical staff who started resuscitation efforts while calling for an ambulance. Friday, June 25th 2021, 7:56 pm. The Oklahoma County Jail saw four deaths in 2020, according to The Frontier, and six in 2019. OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) Thursday, the death of a detainee in the Oklahoma County Detention Center or Jail was the ninth for the facility in 2021. Oklahoma County Jail deaths this year include the following: Jail administrator Greg Williams, who was hired by the trust to run the jail when it took over the facility from the sheriff in 2020, said in a statement to NonDoc that jail staff continue to work to reduce inmate deaths. The Sheriff's Office can be found at 202 Haywood Street, Asheville, North Carolina, 28801. April 14, 2021. He was placed in a cell for medical observation. A cellmate told staff Revas had been in digestive distress but refused to alert staff in the hours before his death. The shortage of staff at the jail has contributed to a lack of control over the prisoners there, the man said. What to know as Oklahoma voters decide on March 7 if they want to expand the states medical marijuana market to adult recreational users 21 and older. The prisoner needed 12 staples in his scalp to close the wounds, according to court documents. Six detention officers at the Oklahoma County jail have been charged with assault and mistreatment of inmates since October. The states urban jails have also struggled to care for inmates with mental illness. She was in the jail after failing to appear in court on a drug possession charge. Tuell said Ward was routinely checked in while at the jail, as inmates normally are. Jailers reported that German was behaving erratically and suspected she was still under the influence of methamphetamine more than 24 hours after her arrest. For Oklahoma County voters, one of the most notable items on the ballot is a $260 million bond proposal to fund construction of a new county jail. I think thats led to the increased number of inmates who are dying.. The former detention officer agreed to an interview on the condition his name not be published. An inspection report from the National Institute of Corrections also found phones that were not working in the medical unit. First responders pronounced him dead at the jail. Theres no effective way to enforce the type of agreement that Oklahoma County entered into with the Department of Justice it basically amounts to an out-of-court settlement, said Jonathan M. Smith, executive director for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. The Department of Justice called on Oklahoma County to fix the locks in 2008 but it wasnt until 2019 that the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office spent $1 million to install new locking mechanisms on about a third of the jails 1,200 cells. Please follow these terms for republication: * Reporters bylines and photographers credit lines should be accompanied by Oklahoma Watch.. Six detention officers have been charged in state court with assault and mistreatment of prisoners at the jail since October. Five of the six detention officers who now face criminal charges were involved in uses of force against prisoners who left their cells to shower or use the toilet without permission from detention officers, according to court records and interviews. Emergency responders declared him dead on the scene. What happened: Jailers were alerted that Heatherington was having a seizure after other prisoners began kicking the dorm room door. Did we miss an incident or would you like to talk to us about one listed below? . Ward told officers upon arrest that she did not feel well, TPD Sgt. The jail trust has made it one of its top priorities to move to a system of direct supervision, but hiring enough staff to accomplish that goal has proved to be a challenge. And deaths are not the only causes of lawsuits. Christa Sullivan suffered undisclosed health issues and was under suicide watch when jail staff saw her arm go limp Tuesday night and called medical personnel . These can include Oklahoma County death certificates, local and Oklahoma State death registries, and the National Death Index. Dude did me dirty Frontier to support local independent investigative journalism Lane struggled with depression and used to... With our new body scanner, weve modernized intake procedures to better spot contraband resources to... Of its settlement with Oklahoma County officials should also look to divert low-level! 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