Members of a jail watchdog group are demanding that county commissioners open an investigation into a series of deaths and conditions at the Montgomery County Jail. This comes after a video surfaced showing a 19-year-old inmate hours before he died.

The Montgomery County Jail Coalition has been around for several years, looking at issues like bail reform and overcrowding. Now, they’re turning their focus on a half-dozen deaths that happened in the jail last year and what they claim are the conditions and attitudes that played a role in the in-custody deaths.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, more than a dozen members of the coalition sounded off to Montgomery County Commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting. They already had concerns about the number of jail deaths in 2023, but they’re even more upset after obtaining and viewing the internal jail video showing 19-year-old Isaiah Trammell hours before his death.

Coalition members said corrections officers allowed him to repeatedly strike his head on walls and doors. They also believe the officers laughed at him, mocked him, and ignored his requests for medication he told them would improve his behavior.

“It’s because of the poor treatment and the negligence at the Montgomery County Jail that Trammell and six others are not here with us today and why we need a state investigation,” Caitlin Minor, of the Montgomery County Jail Coalition, said.

The coalition is demanding an outside investigation. They’ve already sent petitions with more than 300 signatures to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, asking their adult detention center to review the jail’s procedures.

Commissioners listened closely to their concerns and requests.

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“We have a crisis, a mental health crisis,” Montgomery County Commission President Debbie Lieberman said. “These stories are deeply disturbing.”

Commissioners said potential legal action prevents them from saying more. County administrators said they control only jail facilities, not procedures.

One woman whose brother died while in custody in 2018 insisted that something has to change.

“We need accountability and transparency so that getting caught panhandling will never be a death sentence,” Kaiea Wombold, of the Montgomery County Jail Coalition, said.