Montgomery County Coalition calls for prison investigation

KaJéza Hawkins and Alex Pearson

4 mins ago

The video material may be disturbing to some viewers, so discretion is advised.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A local organization is calling for an investigation into the Montgomery County Jail and Coroner’s Office after a video of an autistic inmate surfaced over the weekend.

The video shows 19-year-old Isiah Trammel after his arrest last year. He spent 10 hours in custody before being taken to the hospital. He died three days later.

Trammel was one of seven inmates who died in the Montgomery County Jail in 2023. The county medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

The Montgomery County Jail Coalition (MCJC), an inmate advocacy group, disputes this claim. They say Trammel’s death was not a suicide and could have been prevented.

“He suffered so much that he repeatedly threw his body against the wall until he suffered head trauma,” said Joel R. Pruce, co-chair of the MCJC.

Trammel’s death attracted national attention and prompted local politicians to question the practices of the county’s prison staff.

“I am convinced that Isaiah Trammell was tortured in prison. He was taken to a hospital 10 hours after his arrest and died afterwards. He should still be alive,” Pruce said.

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Trammel was arrested on a domestic violence warrant. The teen asked for his medication while in custody, but video shows officers refused those medications, as well as a blanket and a phone call.

The video then shows Trammel banging his head against the concrete wall inside the jail and is also seen handcuffed to a chair, which county officials say is used in extreme cases to restrain inmates.

Trammel was taken by ambulance to the hospital after ten hours in custody, where he died three days later. The MCJC says his death was directly related to the injuries he sustained while in custody.

According to previous reports, most other prison deaths were related to overdoses, which are recognized as a mental health problem in prison.

“I really insist that Isaiah Trammell was somebody’s son. He was somebody’s brother. He was somebody’s friend. And we lose our sense of humanity when we think of somebody being arrested and incarcerated,” Pruce said.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement:

The death of Isaiah Trammell was an unspeakable tragedy for everyone involved. Arrested on a domestic violence warrant, Trammell self-harmed by repeatedly hitting himself in the head. Prison doctors and psychologists treated Trammell from the time he was booked into the jail until he was transported to a local hospital. While people accused of violent crimes should not be abandoned to society, our community needs a medical facility with a locked unit that can better respond to people in crisis.

The Ohio Bureau of Adult Detention reviewed this incident and in April of last year we were informed that the agency found no deficiencies. The Coalition’s allegations of prison staff misconduct and lack of transparency are disheartening considering the sheriff and prison staff have met with coalition members on multiple occasions and walked them through every area of ​​the prison so they could better understand the challenges our correctional staff face in our current facility. Additionally, they are well aware that the Montgomery County Jail is one of the few in the country that invites professionals from other agencies to review our operations in order to maintain accreditations from both the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

Pruce says the situation was inhumane and Trammell should have been treated better in custody.

“That’s why we want the state to investigate not just Isaiah’s case, but all seven cases from the last year, because determining that Isaiah’s was a suicide throws everything into question,” Pruce said.

2 NEWS has contacted Trammell’s family and expects a response by tomorrow.