Black, of Zanesville, was taken into custody March 23 after reportedly crashing a stolen vehicle on Interstate 70 in Englewood. He was taken to a local hospital and subsequently booked into jail. He died after an altercation with corrections officers.
The Montgomery County commission approved the settlement with Black’s family during their Tuesday morning meeting.
“Our hearts go out to Christian Black’s family and to everyone affected by this loss,” said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert.
Black’s parents and attorneys Wright and Rob Gresham said during a press conference on Tuesday that they want to see criminal indictments and convictions against the sheriff’s office employees involved in their son’s incident at the county jail.
Credit: Edited by Bryant Billing
“Just like they arrested my son for his wrongdoing, they need to be arrested for their wrongdoing. They need to be held accountable for their wrongdoing. Unfortunately for my son, they took it upon themselves to be the judge and the executioner. They need to be in the same jail he was in. They need to face an actual judge and have a jury convict them,” said Misti Black, Christian’s mother.
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 a Taser was deployed. He was bent forward in the chair and multiple officers pushed down on his back as they removed his handcuffs. After this, he went limp in the chair.
Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck earlier this year announced ten jail employees were suspended pending an investigation after Black’s death. The sheriff’s office recently said six of them returned to work “after attending training that included instruction on the emergency restraint chair.”
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled Black’s death a homicide as a result of mechanical and positional asphyxiation. No charges have been filed in connection with Black’s death.
Attorneys representing Black’s family filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County Jail’s medical care provider Naphcare and several Naphcare employees earlier this month, and that case continues in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
“We want the county to cancel their contract with Naphare, or should I call them non-care?” said Wright. “Because they didn’t do anything to assist with saving the life of Christian. They had the opportunity, and they did absolutely nothing. And it’s infuriating to this family that they did absolutely nothing to help their son.”
Christian’s mother said the settlement doesn’t mend a broken heart. She said this fall has been particularly hard, as her son was an avid football fan and loved watching games with his family.
“Every day that I wake up, I have to tell myself that he’s gone. It’s something that I don’t know that I’ll ever not have to do,” Misti Black said. “Anything in my everyday life is really hard for me, because outside of his time at college, he was with me every day for 25 years.”
Another lawsuit against the county and Naphcare over a death at the jail is ongoing.
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.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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