Family sues for change after autistic 19-year-old dies from injuries in Ohio jail

• The family of Isaiah Trammell, an autistic man who died after being held in the Montgomery County Jail, is suing the county and its medical care provider.
• Trammell died from head injuries after jail staff mocked him and strapped him into a restraint chair for longer than the state guidelines on restraints allow.
• Trammell’s death is one of at least 220 deaths in Ohio jails between 2020 and 2023.

The family of an autistic 19-year-old man who died after his time in the Montgomery County Jail is suing the county and the company that provides medical care in the jail.

Isaiah Trammell, a resident of Lebanon, was arrested after a neighbor called the police, worried about a potential domestic situation since Trammell was yelling on the phone with his uncle. Officers found a warrant from a previous time the police were called for a wellness check, his mother Brandy Abner previously told The Enquirer.

Police then booked Trammell into the Montgomery County Jail, where he began to bang his head as a form of stimming, the self-soothing behaviors people with autism turn to in times of distress. The lawsuit alleges jail staff failed “to provide objectively reasonable medical care” to Trammell, who spent less than 10 hours in the jail before he was taken to the hospital for his head injuries. Trammell was unconscious when he left the jail and spent three days in a coma before he died.

Dying Behind Bars: At least 220 people died in Ohio jails over 4 years

Surveillance video shows Trammell asked for his medication, his clothes, a phone call and a blanket while in the jail. Deputies told Trammell he was “ridiculous,” “embarrassing” and “acting like an ass.” Officers strapped Trammell into a restraint chair two separate times and threatened more time in the chair if he didn’t calm down.

“Defendants intentionally chose to ignore Isaiah’s serious medical and psychiatric needs and sought neither constitutionally appropriate medical care nor a safe environment for him,” attorneys for the Trammell family said in court documents. “Instead, they openly treated him with contempt, goading and mocking him until he foreseeably engaged in escalating acts of self-harm until he eventually lost consciousness and died from his head injuries.”

Trammell’s death drew international attention and his family and local activists have called for better treatment for those with autism in jail.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit. Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck previously told The Enquirer that Trammell shouldn’t have been in jail, given his mental health issues.

What happened to Isaiah Trammell?

Trammell told the jail’s medical staff that he was autistic and felt suicidal, according to an investigative report. Though medical staff said he should be provided with a mat and a blanket, he was put on suicide watch in a concrete cell and given only a suicide-resistant smock to wear.

The use of restraints is supposed to be a last resort when someone’s safety is in danger, per Ohio jail policies, but deputies kept Trammell in a restraint chair for an hour after he said he had no intention of harming himself.

“You remember how that restraint chair felt? Remember what the sergeant said? You’re gonna go in for 10 hours next time you go in there. You want to do that?” one officer told Trammell after his first two-hour stretch in the chair.

After Trammell’s death, investigators with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office determined the jail staff did nothing wrong and provided Trammell with appropriate care. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has since said jails should be investigated by an outside agency instead of the same sheriff’s office who runs the jail.

Others have died in custody of the Montgomery County Jail

Trammell was one of 18 deaths the Montgomery County Jail reported to the state between 2020 and 2023. A USA TODAY Network Ohio investigation found that most of the 16,000 people in Ohio jails each day suffer from mental illness.

“Even before Isaiah’s death, Defendant Montgomery County was on notice that people incarcerated at the Montgomery County Jail had been subject to the unconstitutional denial of medical services at the hands of its own employees and NaphCare employees,” the Trammell family’s attorneys wrote in court documents.

Two years after Trammell’s death, 25-year-old Christian Black died after time in a restraint chair while in custody of the Montgomery County Jail.

Black died of “positional asphyxia.” Attorneys for his family said the surveillance video shows that jail staff tasered Black and put him in a headlock while he was in the restraint chair.

The Trammell family’s attorneys said in court documents that the purpose of their lawsuit, filed in March, is to seek change for others incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail, especially those with autism. The family seeks a trial and is suing for compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. The court has not yet set a trial date.

Regional politics reporter Erin Glynn can be reached at eglynn@enquirer.com, @ee_glynn on X or @eringlynn on Bluesky.