Seven Ohio Prison Staff Dismissed After Black Prisoner’s Death | Nationwide

Columbus, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s orthodontic agency fired seven employees on Friday after officials said Prison guards used excessive unjust force Against a black prisoner before he died in detention in February.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has sent five correctional officers, supervisors, and associate nurses notice of dismissal after investigating the death of 55-year-old Michael McDaniel in custody.

Security footage released by authorities in July showed that McDaniel collapsed on his own and was put down on the floor by prison guards before McDaniel died on February 6 at the Orthodontic Reception Center in the Orient on the outskirts of Columbus. I showed that.

“We are responsible for what happened in the video,” director Annette Chambers Smith told reporters in July after releasing a surveillance footage of the incident. “There is no question about that.”

One of the police officers involved, Heath Cozy, said in a record released Friday that McDaniel’s “takedown” was taken while the prisoner was taken out without shoes and a coat and wore a torn white T-shirt. Is accused of doing. His body turned the promenade and landed prone on a snow-covered area. “

Disciplinary records also stated that Lieutenant Bruce Brown “did not take steps to stop McDaniel from falling to the ground,” and sent him to a medical facility after the prison officer used excessive force. Did not seek assistance for “safe transportation”.

Most of the encounters appear to be happening under the watchful eye of more than half a dozen officers. The department concluded that 16 times McDaniel hit the ground was avoidable, due to the negligence of care by the staff handling him.

When McDaniel arrived at the medical center, his health check took less than a minute, and the unidentified nurse who treated him did not perform standard tests and checked vital signs. did not.

Guards then took McDaniel out of the facility, where he finally collapsed before CPR began and an ambulance was called. He died shortly after.

Four hours later, the agency says associate nurse Jamie Dukes signed a medical document stating that McDaniels refused care. “But Mr. Dukes wasn’t actually in the room to hear prisoner McDaniel refuse treatment,” the record said. The agency said McDaniel never refused treatment and Dukes was also fired on Friday. There is no surveillance video in the examination room.

An email asking for comment was left to the Ohio Citizen Services Employees Association, a union representing prison officers.

“This is not what we trained people to do,” Chambers-Smith said last month. “Not everyone is suitable for orthodontic work, and those who are not suitable should be removed.”

Franklin County Coroner’s office Declared McDaniel’s death as murder Then, the cause was determined to be “sudden cardiac death due to stress.” The autopsy detailed his head, face, shoulders, wrists, hands, knees, feet, toes, and abdominal injuries. McDaniel also suffered from multiple rib fractures, and coroners found evidence of heart disease.

Prison officials said three other staff members involved in the case had previously resigned and some had resigned before the investigation was completed.

The county prosecutor makes a decision on criminal accusations against prison officials.

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Farnoush Amiri is a corps member of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists in the local newsroom to report on unreported issues.