Violent clash and death in Ohio prison leads to $225,000 settlement

The state of Ohio will pay $225,000 to the estate of a man who died while in prison custody and settle a lawsuit brought by his family.

Dewey McVay, Jr., who had a long history of mental health issues, was incarcerated in December 2019 at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, which is operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

While trying to move McVay to another cell, state employees assaulted and injured him, according to his family's legal team. DRC medical staff failed to follow through on a doctor's recommendation to give McVay a head CT scan to determine the extent of his injuries.

Nearly two weeks later, staff found McVay unresponsive on his cell floor. He died of blunt force injuries to his head.

“My brother did not deserve to die like this," said Patricia Maxwell, his sister. "As a nurse myself, I am shocked at the medical staff’s failures to follow up or advocate for Dewey in these circumstances. What the prison guards did to Dewey was extremely wrong and inexcusable, and their cover-up showed that they thought no one cared about Dewey enough to notice. But Dewey’s humanity and his rights were important, his life had meaning, and he was loved, even though he was in prison, and even though he was there for a reason."

McVay, 55, was one of several men who died over a two-year period while incarcerated at Correctional Reception Center in Pickaway County. The center is where thousands of inmates are evaluated and assigned security levels before moving to other prisons.

McVay's estate filed the lawsuit following an investigation by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau which includes The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Columbus Dispatch into problems at the prison, which included previously undisclosed details about McVay's death. Hundreds of pages of documents show problems with substandard medical care, security camera blind spots and staffing issues.

McVay's medical treatment and death were investigated by the Ohio Highway Patrol, which referred the case to Pickaway County Prosecutor Judy Wolford. She declined to bring charges, saying McVay had a history of banging his head against the wall.

Jacqueline Greene, a lawyer for McVay's estate said in a news release Thursday that his death was preventable and tragic.

“We hope that this case, and this settlement, will cause prison officers to think twice before brutalizing people in their care and will lead to medical staff no longer looking the other way when they provide medical care to people who have been assaulted by prison staff," Greene said.

Erin Glynn contributed reporting.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.