INDIANA MAN WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA WAS LEFT NAKE IN A JAIL CELL FOR WEEKS BEFORE DEATH

Please Help Us Grow This Channel: Like! Subscribe! Share!

For nearly three weeks, Joshua McLemore lived in solitary confinement at the Jackson County Jail.

He barely ate or drank after being taken to the jail on July 20, 2021. He urinated and defecated on the floor. He lost 45 pounds.

By the time jail staff called for medical help, McLemore’s organs were failing. He died at a Cincinnati hospital on Aug. 10, 2021, at the age of 29.

An autopsy ruled the cause of death as “multiple organ failure due to refusal to eat or drink with altered mental status due to untreated schizophrenia.”

An Indiana State Police investigation found McLemore died because of a lack of attention by jail staff, something the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office agreed with. But this negligence did not result in criminal charges.

Naked, tired and hungry: Investigation into inmate death reveals apparent negligence

A federal lawsuit filed this week on behalf of McLemore’s estate seeks damages, including compensation for mental, physical and emotional pain, along with punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other applicable relief.

It names as defendants Jackson County Sheriff Rick Meyer, Jail Commander Chris Everhart, jail personnel and Advanced Correctional Healthcare, Inc., a private contractor that offers healthcare services at correctional facilities in 21 states.

“Josh McLemore wasn’t a criminal. He was mentally ill and in crisis. He was out of touch with reality and needed help,” said Hank Balson, an attorney representing McLemore’s estate “This is glaringly obvious to anyone who watches the videos of him in his isolation cell. But instead of getting Josh the care he so desperately needed, the Jackson County sheriff and his staff left Josh alone in his cell, naked, barely sleeping or eating, for almost three weeks as he wasted away in front of their eyes. This is not only unconstitutional, it’s immoral.”