Attorneys for Black’s family say he was murdered, and released dozens of videos obtained from the sheriff’s office showing Black’s time at the jail. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled his death a homicide as a result of mechanical and positional asphyxiation.
The complaint, filed in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, argues that nurses on the scene during the incident involving Black mishandled the situation and ignored his “obvious, dire medical condition,” according to a press release from the offices of his family’s attorneys, Michael Wright, Robert Gresham and Anthony Pierson.
Credit: Edited by Bryant Billing
Naphcare’s communications office did not return a request for comment about the lawsuit and the status of the employees listed within.
Video of Black’s time at the jail shows two separate altercations between Black and corrections officers, ending in Black being placed into a restraint chair with handcuffs after he was pepper-sprayed and tased. He was bent forward in the chair and multiple officers pushed down on his back as they removed his handcuffs. After this, he goes limp in the chair.
The sheriff’s office has said staff performed CPR, administered oxygen, medicine and used a defibrillator before medics took Black to a local hospital. He was placed on life support so his organs could be donated and was pronounced dead March 26.
“Despite obvious signs of apnea and loss of pulse, no resuscitative efforts were timely initiated. More than five minutes passed before CPR was attempted and more than seven minutes elapsed before oxygen support was provided,” the attorneys’ press release states.
The complaint alleges medical negligence, wrongful death, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent hiring, training and supervision. It cites other deadly incidents tied to NaphCare around the country. The family’s attorneys are conducting their own independent investigation into the death of Black, and his family has called for charges to be pressed against officers involved in his death.
In addition to payment for Black’s funeral, Black’s family seeks compensatory damages and punitive damages, among other relief.
Jail deaths
Black is among several inmates who have died in jail custody in recent years.
Several Montgomery County inmate deaths were reported in 2023 from January through July, and in December 2023, a man died while being transferred from the jail to the hospital. The following year, another inmate died in custody after taking a gun from an officer while receiving care at Kettering Health Dayton.
The family of 19-year-old Isaiah Trammell, who died while in custody at the Montgomery County Jail in 2023, sued Montgomery County, jail medical care provider Naphcare and several jail corrections and medical workers for wrongful death, saying Trammell was denied necessary medical treatment. His case is ongoing in Dayton’s federal district court.
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