Montgomery County Jail has reached a settlement with the family of Christian Black after his death at the jail in March.
"We settled for $7 million, which is the largest in county history," said Robert Gresham, an attorney with the Wright and Schulte law firm who worked on the litigation. "The settlement from our perspective reflects the gravity of Christian's death and the county's recognition of its responsibility."
25-year-old Christian Black of Zanesville, Ohio, was taken into custody in connection with an alleged carjacking in March.
Initially, Black was taken to Miami Valley Hospital for a checkup because Gresham said they noticed "he had some issues going on."
He was then cleared and taken to Montgomery County Jail where he was booked on March 23.
In the early morning hours of March 24, he was restrained by approximately 10 officers with multiple NaphCare employees looking on.
"They drug him out of his cell, placed him face down on the floor under the weight of multiple officers," said Gresham. "They deployed pepper spray, tasers, and then they ultimately made the decision to put him in a restraining chair, placing a spit hood over his head while bending him over at the waist and applying pressure on his neck."
He said Black was unresponsive for several minutes after being restrained by officers while medical staff stood by and "neglected to perform lifesaving care."
"At some point, they do engage in CPR and some life-saving measures," said Gresham. "But based on what we know about the medical condition, minutes matter, and they delayed entirely too long while they're watching him essentially die in front of them. And he was murdered in front them from our perspective."
His death was ruled a homicide by the coroner’s office, likely caused by mechanical and positional asphyxia.
"The video is very jarring. There's a pretty substantial officer that has his entire weight on Christian's back and neck bending him down," said Gresham.
The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave but no jail personnel have been criminally charged.
"He went in for what would probably be considered ultimately, I believe, a misdemeanor and just didn't make it out unfortunately," said Gresham. "Because nobody cared enough to save him and nobody cared enough to render medical aid."
He said the Black family is now pursuing a lawsuit against the jail’s medical care provider, NaphCare, with a medical negligence claim.
“The county recently renewed their contract with NaphCare, despite what occurred here, what's happening across the country at other jails where NaphCare is involved and people are dying," he said.
A spokesperson from NaphCare said they extend their condolences to the Black family and are currently reviewing the litigation but they are confident that their staff acted quickly and appropriately, in an effort to save Black’s life under difficult and fast-moving circumstances.
"NaphCare stands behind our team and their commitment to providing exemplary care in one of the most challenging environments," they wrote in a statement to WYSO. "We are confident in the quality of care provided to our patients and remain committed to providing the highest quality healthcare to every patient in the Montgomery County Jail."
The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office also responded to requests for an interview with a statement saying they are unable to comment during the ongoing investigation, but their thoughts remain with the Black family.
"We are encouraged that construction is finally moving forward at the County Jail," said a spokesperson with the sheriff's office in a statement. "We believe these improvements will play a critical role in addressing many of the challenges currently faced, including mental health crises, deteriorating inmate health, and the violent incidents that correctional staff encounter daily."
Those improvements include a new, $20 million Behavioral Health Unit, which will convert around 226 general population beds into a behavioral health and medical wing.
"It's going to have space for detox services, suicide prevention treatment, expanded medical care — they're actually looking at the intake area where a person first arrives," said Montgomery County Commissioner Carolyn Rice. "They're totally revamping that to be far more, I think, supportive of a good, first coming in and making sure that they get all the information and the person is safe."
The unit is expected to be completed by mid-2027.
Commissioners have also spent more than $6.6 million on jail improvements including updates to the facility's heating, air conditioning and plumbing.
Gresham said while these improvements are encouraging, the family is still steadfast in their pursuit for jail reform.
"They want to prevent this from happening to other people, because this is an issue in this particular jail, in this particularly county, and they don't want this to happen again to somebody else," he said.
