Disturbing footage shows a terrified, autistic 19-year-old boy desperately asking police to listen to him before repeatedly hitting his head and dying in custody.
Isaiah Trammell was taunted, belittled and threatened by nine guards as he begged for his medication in Ohio’s Montgomery County Jail after he was arrested following a mental health episode in March 2023.
In surveillance videos obtained by The Columbus DispatchOfficers tell autistic man he was “ridiculous,” “embarrassing” and “acting like an asshole.”
Trammell was strapped into a security chair twice and threatened a third time if he did not calm down.
Unable to calm himself, Trammell hit his head on the cell door while desperately shouting, “Let me out.”
Isaiah Trammell was taunted, belittled and threatened by nine guards as he begged for his medication at Ohio’s Montgomery County Jail in March 2023
No one listened when Trammell asked for his medication, a phone call and a blanket, the Dispatch said.
Less than 10 hours after arriving at the jail, Trammell was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Trammell died three days later, with the coroner ruling it a suicide.
The young man had hit his head repeatedly before being booked and throughout the night.
He told police that headbanging is “the only way I know to get rid of the madness in my head.”
Trammell’s heartbroken mother Brandy Abner told The Columbus Patch that Trammel had a history of head-butting as a coping mechanism.
Earlier, his family had called for help and he was hospitalized for days.
Less than ten hours after arriving at the prison, he was taken to hospital by ambulance. Trammell died three days later, with the coroner ruling it a suicide
“The way we always call when he gets angry,” Abner said. “It’s a mental health call, it’s not an ‘arrest me’ call.”
During his final episode, a neighbor called the police complaining about noise, and while checking on Trammell, police found a warrant for his arrest for a domestic violence offense a year earlier.
Trammell and his family were reportedly unaware of the outstanding arrest warrant, which his mother said stemmed from a new mental health crisis.
While in custody, the young man told officers that he had ADHD and that he did not want to live.
Trammell was placed on suicide watch, which means he was searched, given a suicide-proof gown, blanket and mattress and isolated in a secure cell.
However, officers did not give Trammell a mattress or blanket, according to the Dispatch.
The young man had hit his head repeatedly before being booked and throughout the night
‘He hated exposing his body and he kept telling them. He hated being cooped up. That would definitely trigger him,” his mother said.
Officers reportedly kept him in the restraint chair for more than an hour, which violates Ohio standards for restraint.
Police also continued to threaten to put Trammell on the bench for a third time. The chair is intended as a last resort and is used after dispensing medication.
When one officer said they couldn’t use the safety chair, another officer responded, “Just put the chair in front of his damn cell so he stops.” Give him a constant reminder.’
The Montgomery County Jail Coalition has called on the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) to investigate Trammell’s death.
Trammell’s mother Brandy Abner told The Columbus Patch that Trammel has a history of banging his head as a coping mechanism
“Isaiah would be alive today if he had been treated with dignity and respect in prison by staff who cared about his health and well-being. Instead of listening to his cries for medicine, he was laughed at and ignored. We need accountability for what happened to him,” said Yvonne Currington, a retired nurse and member of the Jail Coalition.
That’s what the sheriff’s office said Dayton daily news On Monday, the ODRC’s Bureau of Detention said there were no “deficiencies” in the way the sheriff’s office handled his death.
“Medical and mental health providers at the jail provided treatment to Trammell from the time he was admitted to the jail until he was transported to a local hospital,” sheriff’s office spokeswoman Christine Bevins said.
“While people charged with violent crimes should not be released to society, our community needs a medical facility with a lockdown unit that can better handle those in crisis.”