This news outlet receives drafts of county commission agendas — which are subject to change before the actual meeting — through a public records request. The draft of the Sept. 30 agenda includes a resolution to authorize a payment “to Misti Black and her attorney Michael L. Wright, in the amount of $7,000,000.”
“Our hearts go out to Christian Black’s family and to everyone affected by this loss,” said Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert in a statement released to the Dayton Daily News.
Colbert said daily jail operations fall solely under the sheriff’s authority and are regulated by multiple state and federal agencies.
The county commission does not control jail operations and does not have the authority to alter jail policies or procedures, Colbert said, but county officials “will continue advocating for improvements that ensure the safety and dignity of those in custody.”
A Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson declined to comment on the agenda item, citing an ongoing investigation.
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.
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 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.
Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck announced ten jail employees were suspended pending an investigation after Black’s death. The sheriff’s office earlier this month said six of them returned to work “after attending training that included instruction on the emergency restraint chair.”
Black’s family filed a lawsuit this month against Montgomery County Jail medical provider Naphcare and nurses who were on the scene during the incident involving Black.
The Montgomery County commission this month approved the contract for the construction work on a $20 million project to create a new behavioral health unit at Montgomery County Jail, with construction slated to begin in October.
The commission is also investing $1.3 million of opioid settlement funds into the Behavioral Health Safety Net Portal, a communitywide referral system to help health care providers coordinate care for people coming into emergency departments and other spaces with behavioral health needs.
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.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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