IN Joshua McLemore, 29, Died After 20 Days in Solitary Confinement at Jackson Co. Jail 08/ 2021. Fed. Lawsuit Filed

[FrostedGlass]

LE was called to his home for a welfare check. They ended up taking him to the hospital, where he pulled the nurse's hair, resulting in an arrest. It went downhill from there. There are truly disturbing pictures at this link.

Federal lawsuit filed in case of man who died after spending 20 days in solitary confinement at Indiana jail

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…

fox59.com

McLemore, who grew up in Mississippi, had a history of substance abuse and mental health issues. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. He moved to Seymour, Indiana, in November 2020.
...
Staff used video cameras to monitor McLemore. The footage showed the “inhumane nature” of his confinement, as well as his “active psychosis” and “deteriorating condition,” the lawsuit said. He received virtually no medical care or attention, despite being on “medical observation.” Jail staff maintained a recorded log for only the first seven-and-a-half days of McLemore’s confinement.

Here's another link to the story

Lawsuit: Mentally ill man isolated in jail cell for 20 days without care before he died

Joshua McLemore died of multiple organ failure after he was kept isolated in a padded cell at Jackson County Jail in Southern Indiana for 20 days.

www.indystar.com

 

[FrostedGlass]

More details here:

Death of another inmate highlights pattern of troubling treatment emerging from Jackson County Jail

A new report reveals Joshua McLemore sat naked and deteriorating inside his cell at the Jackson County Jail for 20 days with no medical attention before his death.

www.wdrb.com

[snip]
But after a nine-month investigation, Jackson County Prosecutor Jeffrey Chalfant said Wednesday that no one will be charged in the death of Joshua McLemore.
...
Those documents show McLemore's court appointed attorney filed a motion on July 29 to determine his competency and for an insanity evaluation. He was taken to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Indiana, on Aug. 8. After staff determined McLemore was in critical condition, he was transported to Mercy West Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died on Aug. 10.
...
On July 31, employees wrote that McLemore's cell was littered with trash and food, which he was "rolling around" in. They also noted that he "was not able to respond and was not speaking clearly" when asked if he wanted to shower and eat. He was removed from his cell, given a shower and his cell was cleaned.
...
The prosecutor also wrote that he and ISP's investigator watched video of McLemore from the duration of his incarceration, which showed "that he was mostly not eating, mostly not drinking, mostly not sleeping, never asked to use the bathroom, and was in a dissociative state."

 

[FrostedGlass]

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/wdrb.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/20/92037072-f823-11ec-ae65-affaee4088f2/62bd16f4c4336.pdf.pdf

12 pgs
FINDINGS OF PROSECUTOR REVIEW OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEATH OF JOSHUA L MCLEMORE
[snips]
Inmate McLemore was incarcerated at JCJ for 20 days.
During his 20-day incarceration, inmate McLemore remained naked. He was not
able to dress himself and jail staff was unable to dress him in the jail issued
smock. Inmate McLemore remained in padded cell #7 during his incarceration.
Inmate McLemore's behavior was very erratic. He rarely slept, ate, or
drank. Roughly estimated (from video review), inmate McLemore slept for
approximately 15 hours of his 480 hour (20 days) incarceration. He moved less
and appeared to sleep more the last few days of his incarceration.
...
...it appears that during
his incarceration, inmate McLemore retrieved approximately 32 meals from the
tray pass in his cell door. The meals he did not retrieve from the tray pass were
taken away by jail staff. Breakfast and lunch were offered in Styrofoam
containers. Dinners were offered in brown paper bags. Bags would be placed on
the tray pass or dropped into the cell through the tray pass. Inmate McLemore
would usually destroy the dinner bags and dump the food on the cell floor. Inmate
McLemore ate very little when he did eat. Inmate McLemore lost 44.8 lbs. during
his incarceration.
...
... inmate McLemore retrieved approximately 19 drinks from the
tray pass. Drinks were offered in Styrofoam cups or Gatorade bottles. Inmate
McLemore retrieved less drinks from the tray pass than he did meals. Inmate
McLemore drank very little when he did drink. He would accidentally and/or
purposefully spill the majority of his drinks on himself and the floor. The drinks
would mix on the floor with the food trash and his urine, causing the cell to be in
a constant state of disarray.
...
During his incarceration, inmate McLemore was taken out of his cell 3
times. Those dates were: 7/25/2021, 7/31/2021, & 8/8/2021. On those dates, his
cell was cleaned. Although it was cleaned, it did not stay clean for very long due
to inmate McLemore's actions. There were two occasions that inmate McLemore
was showered. Those dates were 7/31/2021 & 8/08/2021. They are also marked
on the jail log entries.
...
...it (restroom door) was kept locked for safety reasons and
it is unlocked at the inmate's request to use the restroom or shower. Inmate
McLemore did not ever ask for access to the restroom or shower. He was given
access to the restroom on one occasion during his 20-day incarceration for a few
hours. Although he did venture into the restroom area, he did not use the
restroom. Inmate McLemore frequently urinated in his cell. In reviewing the jail
video, I did not see that he ever defecated in his cell.
...
Inmate McLemore remained naked during his incarceration. He was
consistently covered in food, drinks, trash, and urine. He would lie on the floor
and roll around. Observations of Jail staff and EMTs (“Emergency Medical
Technicians”) said that both inmate McLemore and his cell smelled of urine.

PROSECUTOR FINDINGS
The Office of the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney finds that no crimes were
committed by employees of the Jackson County Jail related to the death of Joshua A McLemore.

 

[FrostedGlass]

Here's his case if anyone wants to follow it. Of course, it's behind a $$$ paywall.

ESTATE OF JOSHUA A. MCLEMORE v. JACKSON COUNTY, INDIANA et al (4:23-cv-00057), Indiana Southern District Court

ESTATE OF JOSHUA A. MCLEMORE v. JACKSON COUNTY, INDIANA et al (4:23-cv-00057), Indiana Southern District Court, Filed: 04/12/2023

www.pacermonitor.com

There is also another disturbing case out of that same jail 3 weeks earlier. I haven't followed it and I didn't find a thread for it here. Ta'Neasha Chappell also died while in custody. The prosecutor came to the same conclusion for her.

 

[FrostedGlass]

I wonder where those family members pushing this civil suit through were for the weeks he was in that cell - and the months or years before it.

His mom was in his life.

Josh MeLemore was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and raised primarily in nearby
Long Beach. He graduated from Long Beach High School and attended Mississippi State
University. He enjoyed reading, playing chess, playing video games, and watching sports. His mother, Rhonda MeLemore, was a single mother and a member of the United States Navy. She died unexpectedly in December 2022, roughly 16 months after losing her son.
20. When he was in high school, Josh started having problems related to drug use and
undiagnosed mental illness. Eventually he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Over the years, he received in-patient psychiatric treatment on various occasions and experienced periods of relative stability that allowed him to work and enjoy life. But unfortunately, the mental illness and drug problems retumed.
21. In November 2020, at the age of 28, Josh moved to Indiana, where he obtained
‘employment and established residency. He was living in Seymour at the time of the arrest and jail detention that led to his death.
22. On July 20,2021, Josh's mother was feeling anxious about her son’s well-being
because he hadn't been retuming her calls or text messages. She called the apartment manager where Josh lived and asked him to check on her son. The manager went to Josh’s apartment along with the building maintenance person, where they found Josh on the floor of his bedroom, naked, confused, and incoherent. They called for an ambulance...

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23773602/mclemorecomplaintfinaldraft.pdf

 

[KooshBall]

Federal lawsuit filed in case of man who died after spending 20 days in solitary confinement at Indiana jail

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…

fox59.com

History of meth use. While everyone is focused on the opioid epidemic, the far more dangerous (imo) meth epidemic goes ignored. It is terrifying what it does to the brain and is contributing to a wave of unstable and mentally ill people, who often end up living on the streets because they are too unstable for regular housing and shelters, but not considered a danger to allow for hospitalization.

In this particular case, was Joshua seeing a psychiatrist and/or being medicated, while detained? If not, that is outrageous because he could have potentially been stabilized, instead of rolling around naked in food and urine. They knew he wasn't sleeping and never considered a dr to prescribe a sleep med? I couldn't do it, I couldn't just go to work every day and see something this sad and just ignore it.

 

[FrostedGlass]

A Man Was Left In Jail Naked, Alone And Suffering From Psychosis — He Died Weeks Later

Joshua McLemore spent 20 days in solitary confinement instead of receiving the medical help he needed. A lawsuit says his death was "preventable."

www.huffpost.com

‘Just A Good Person’​

Susan Wildin met McLemore at a Mardi Gras parade in Long Beach, Mississippi, after he started dating her daughter, Abigail Smith. “He was just very sweet, very kind,” she said. “Just a good person.”

McLemore and Smith moved in together in 2019. “They were clean, they weren’t drinking. They were working out and eating well,” Wildin said. “She just felt so good for the first time in a long time. They were making a new start.”

Later that year, Smith died in a car accident on the way home from work. Wildin and McLemore grew closer after Smith’s sudden death, sharing in their grief. Wildin also became friends with McLemore’s mother, who lived nearby.

The two mothers looked out for McLemore, who struggled with his mental health after his girlfriend’s death. In July 2021, Wildin got a call from Rhonda McLemore.
“Have you heard from Josh? I haven’t heard from him in a couple weeks and I’m getting worried,” his mother said.
Wildin contacted McLemore’s apartment complex, and the person who checked on him put her on the phone with McLemore.
...

 

[FrostedGlass]

History of meth use. While everyone is focused on the opioid epidemic, the far more dangerous (imo) meth epidemic goes ignored. It is terrifying what it does to the brain and is contributing to a wave of unstable and mentally ill people, who often end up living on the streets because they are too unstable for regular housing and shelters, but not considered a danger to allow for hospitalization.

In this particular case, was Joshua seeing a psychiatrist and/or being medicated, while detained? If not, that is outrageous because he could have potentially been stabilized, instead of rolling around naked in food and urine. They knew he wasn't sleeping and never considered a dr to prescribe a sleep med? I couldn't do it, I couldn't just go to work every day and see something this sad and just ignore it.

I totally agree with you on the meth epidemic. I watched a psychologist testify in a murder trial and he explained how meth affects the brain; especially in young males whose brains develop later.

Joshua had no medical treatment during the days he was in jail; not even anything for his meth addiction.

 

[evilwise]

So it sounds like he moved away from his mom for this girl who died and remained there to some extent because the girl's mom sort of stepped into a kind of motherhood role for him that his own mother trusted her with.

Really quite tragic overall that nobody in his personal life nor at the hospital nor the jail was looking out for him - but there are thousands upon thousands of people walking around out there right now in that exact situation. I'd wager most of us in this thread could walk out our front door and find one in half an hour.

 

[FrostedGlass]

So it sounds like he moved away from his mom for this girl who died and remained there to some extent because the girl's mom sort of stepped into a kind of motherhood role for him that his own mother trusted her with.

Really quite tragic overall that nobody in his personal life nor at the hospital nor the jail was looking out for him - but there are thousands upon thousands of people walking around out there right now in that exact situation. I'd wager most of us in this thread could walk out our front door and find one in half an hour.

It seems like one of the women would have followed up on him. From what I read, the GF mother thought he was going to be taken to the hospital for help. Maybe there's something in that lengthy complaint that I linked to. 47 pgs = I haven't read them all.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23773602/mclemorecomplaintfinaldraft.pdf

 

[bombardier]

So it sounds like he moved away from his mom for this girl who died and remained there to some extent because the girl's mom sort of stepped into a kind of motherhood role for him that his own mother trusted her with.

Really quite tragic overall that nobody in his personal life nor at the hospital nor the jail was looking out for him - but there are thousands upon thousands of people walking around out there right now in that exact situation. I'd wager most of us in this thread could walk out our front door and find one in half an hour.

I guess where I see the difference is, while under custody, law enforcement are now legally required to account for the health and safety of their detainees. Joshua's welfare was now in the hands of law enforcement, who allowed him to starve and dehydrate to death.
The same way that law enforcement have the obligation to step in if they witness self harm or suicide attempts in those under their care, they should have stepped in to stop voluntary extreme starvation.

 

[evilwise]

I guess where I see the difference is, while under custody, law enforcement are now legally required to account for the health and safety of their detainees. Joshua's welfare was now in the hands of law enforcement, who allowed him to starve and dehydrate to death.
The same way that law enforcement have the obligation to step in if they witness self harm or suicide attempts in those under their care, they should have stepped in to stop voluntary extreme starvation.

The conventional wisdom regarding the morality of force feeding prisoners tends to fluctuate. I believe it currently is considered generally unethical.

 

[bombardier]

The conventional wisdom regarding the morality of force feeding prisoners tends to fluctuate. I believe it currently is considered generally unethical.

Interesting! Based on what I can see online, a stance the defense attorney can take is that Joshua did not have the mental capacity to understand the consequences of his actions in this case.
In Canada, the stance on force-feeding is "The Service shall not direct the force-feeding, by any method, of an inmate who had the capacity to understand the consequences of fasting at the time the inmate made the decision to fast." I'm guessing it's similar in the USA.

 

[evilwise]

Interesting! Based on what I can see online, a stance the defense attorney can take is that Joshua did not have the mental capacity to understand the consequences of his actions in this case.
In Canada, the stance on force-feeding is "The Service shall not direct the force-feeding, by any method, of an inmate who had the capacity to understand the consequences of fasting at the time the inmate made the decision to fast." I'm guessing it's similar in the USA.

That is interesting. To my knowledge there is no Federal or Indiana law providing that clear a policy. I found the following link on in.gov that leads me to suspect the force feeding of disabled people is illegal there.

Abuse, Neglect & Facility Discharge

www.in.gov

 

[FrostedGlass]

I've been checking on this periodically; this is all there is:

Thursday, April 13, 2023
7. Summons Issued as to ADVANCED CORRECTIONAL HEALTHCARE, INC., CHRIS EVERHART, RONALD EVERSON, SCOTT FERGUSON, JACKSON COUNTY, INDIANA, RICK MEYER, MILTON EDWARD RUTAN. (LF)
6. Notice to File Rule 7.1 Disclosure Statement. (RAGS) (LF)
5. MAGISTRATE JUDGE's NOTICE of Availability to Exercise Jurisdiction issued. (LF)

Wednesday, April 12, 2023
4. NOTICE of Appearance by Erik J. Heipt on behalf of Plaintiff ESTATE OF JOSHUA A. MCLEMORE. (Heipt, Erik)
3. NOTICE of Appearance by Edwin S. Budge on behalf of Plaintiff ESTATE OF JOSHUA A. MCLEMORE. (Budge, Edwin)
2. NOTICE of Appearance by Hank Balson on behalf of Plaintiff ESTATE OF JOSHUA A. MCLEMORE. (Balson, Hank)
1. 47 pgs COMPLAINT against ADVANCED CORRECTIONAL HEALTHCARE, INC., CHRIS EVERHART, RONALD EVERSON, SCOTT FERGUSON, JACKSON COUNTY, INDIANA, RICK MEYER, MILTON EDWARD RUTAN, filed by ESTATE OF JOSHUA A. MCLEMORE. (Filing fee $402, receipt number AINSDC-7586831)(Balson, Hank)
Att: 1 Civil Cover Sheet,
Att: 2 Proposed Summons

 

[FrostedGlass]

I found Courtlistener updates for his case. It gives enough info that you have a idea of what's going on.
There are a couple of orders that are free to download; the rest are behind Pacer's paywall.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67174021/estate-of-joshua-a-mclemore-v-jackson-county-indiana/

 

[FrostedGlass]

MOO
Sadly, money solves everything.
Except Johsua Mclemore is as dead today as he was the day he died.
No punishment for the people who imprisoned him and watched him/let him die.
No justice for him.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67174021/44/estate-of-joshua-a-mclemore-v-jackson-county-indiana/

ORDER DIRECTING FILING OF DOCUMENTS AUTHORIZING DISMISSAL OF CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEFENDANTS
The Court has been notified that the Plaintiff, Defendant Jackson County, and individual Defendants Meyer, Everhart, Ferguson and Rutan have agreed to a settlement of Plaintiff's claims against those Defendants.

Accordingly, all deadlines related to Plaintiff's claims against those Defendants only are hereby VACATED. Within 60 days of the date of this Order, counsel for those Parties shall file the appropriate dismissal papers. Additional time may be granted if requested in writing before expiration of this period. Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Advanced Correctional HealthCare, Inc. and Dr. Ronald Everson remain pending, and the case management deadlines previously set forth in this action remain in effect with regard to those Defendants.