County jail in violation of state standards according to Dept. of Rehab & Correction

DAYTON, Ohio ( WDTN ) — Requests for jail reform continue tonight as a local group demands change following the death of an autistic inmate last year.

Isaiah Trammell died at the hospital after 10 hours inside the Montgomery County Jail. Calls for an investigation into his death began last month , stirring conversations about improving correctional programs.

The Montgomery County Jail Coalition has been leading that charge and hosted another public meeting Thursday night to continue its efforts.

So far, it’s been a push for accountability and answers. Past meetings discussed the death of seven inmates while in custody, including 19-year-old Isaiah Trammell.

Last month, the coalition filed a petition. Last week, it received a response from the state saying the Bureau of Adult Detention found the county to be operating below state standards — something the coalition was not aware of.

Video showing Trammell inside the Montgomery County jail hours before he died sparked the push for an investigation into his death and the deaths of six other inmates.

That footage was released earlier this year and since then, there has also been dialogue between the Montgomery County Jail Coalition, Trammell’s family, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and autism support groups.

Over 300 signatures were collected for the state to conduct a comprehensive review of the inmate deaths at the Montgomery County Jail.

“To our surprise, they had already done one, and we didn’t know that because the county didn’t tell us. And we’ve been asking for the results of their own investigations for nearly a year,” said Joel Pruce, co-chair of the coalition. “We were able to, because of the collective action of this community, we were able to get information that was previously hidden from us.”

So far, discussions have centered around improving behavioral health resources for inmates and training the proper personnel to handle those issues.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections found some of those violations to be in areas such as security observation checks, pre-screens before acceptance and more.

But this isn’t the only big item the coalition is focusing on.

“I want to see a jail as small as possible with a robust network of crisis response, a community-based support service to keep people from going in there. And for the folks who have to be in there, they should be treated with their full dignity and rights,” said Pruce.

Advocates for the coalition say they the goal is to prevent something like this from happening again.

“We’re not going to stop. And just because we’re going to get this report or if they invite us on another tour, we are not going to stop paying attention,” said Pruce.

The Montgomery County Jail Coalition has requested the plans of action the jail made for those violations to better understand the investigation.

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