McLemore
SEYMOUR — A federal civil rights lawsuit filed on Wednesday accuses Jackson County officials and a private, for-profit contractor of violating the constitutional rights of an inmate suffering from an acute mental health crisis who died last year after spending 20 days in solitary confinement at the Jackson County Jail.
The inmate, Josh McLemore, 29, died in August 2021 from multiple organ failure as a result of dehydration and malnutrition after being locked naked in a padded isolation cell for nearly “every second of every day for almost three straight weeks,” according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Albany by Melita Ladner, McLemore’s aunt and the court-appointed administrator of his estate.
McLemore, who had a history of schizophrenia and substance abuse, was arrested in July 2021 and held at the Jackson County Jail for allegedly pulling a nurse’s hair at Schneck Medical Center, where Seymour police had taken him for an evaluation after finding him “naked and incoherent” at a local residence, according to local court records.
The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that jail officials and the contractor exhibited “deliberate indifference” to McLemore’s health as it deteriorated and failed to intervene and secure the medical and mental health care he needed.
Jail officials also allegedly failed to maintain required observation logs and comply with state laws governing solitary confinement, only allowing McLemore to leave his cell “when guards would forcibly remove him and strap him into restraint devices so they could put him under a shower and clean his cell,” the lawsuit states.
Due to being in a “constant state of psychosis,” McLemore ate and drank very little while being held at the Jackson County Jail, losing 45 pounds in 20 days, the complaint states.
Jail officials allegedly didn’t notice that McLemore needed medical attention until his condition was “so dire” that Schneck Medical Center did not not have the clinic resources to treat him, the lawsuit states. McLemore instead had to be airlifted to a Cincinnati hospital, where he later died.
The lawsuit names Jackson County Sheriff Rick Meyer, Jackson County Jail Commander Chris Everhart, Advanced Correctional Health Inc., among others, as defendants.
“Josh suffered and died because of multiple failures by county staff and supervisors, as well as systemic deficiencies and unconstitutional customs, practices and conditions at the Jackson County Jail,” the lawsuit states. “His condition was treatable, and his death was preventable.”
Meyer, the Jackson County sheriff, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The civil lawsuit comes after Jackson County Prosecutor Jeffrey Chalfant determined last year that no jail employees were criminally liable for McLemore’s death even though the inmate “most likely died due to a prolonged lack of attention” by jail staff, according to a 12-page report by Chalfant that concluded a nine-month investigation.
McLemore’s death came less than a month after Jackson County Jail inmate Ta’Neesha Chappell, a 23-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, woman died at Schneck Medical Center while in custody of the jail. Chalfant also declined to file criminal charges related to Chappell’s death.
McLemore was arrested on felony charges twice in the months before the alleged incident at Schneck Medical Center — and the first arrest took place in Bartholomew County, where he spent 50 days in jail in 2021.
In probable cause affidavits, officers noted McLemore’s abnormal behavior during each of the arrests, including documenting an alleged attempt to climb up a wall at Columbus Regional Hospital, bite a “chunk of paint” off of a police car and make “strange comments about ‘gangsters’ chasing him and demons attempting to dismember him.”
On Jan. 10, 2021, McLemore was booked into Bartholomew County Jail on two felony battery charges stemming from an alleged domestic dispute involving his father — and he almost immediately began exhibiting odd behavior, court records show.
Once McLemore was placed in his cell, “he dunked his head in the toilet that had urine in it, he then peed all over his cell, rolled around in it, peed into his hand and rubbed it all over his head …,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Before being booked into Bartholomew County Jail, McLemore had been taken to CRH for evaluation. At the hospital, “he was screaming almost the entire time” and “started climbing up the wall at CRH even though he was handcuffed to the bed,” the probable cause affidavit states.
When police attempted to restrain him, McLemore allegedly tried to bite the officer’s right arm.
The Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the two felony charges just days before the hearing. Bartholomew County Superior Court Judge James Worton granted the motion on May 7, 2021.
Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said the motion was filed after McLemore’s father recanted his allegations in two letters written to investigators. However, Nash did not respond to a request for copies of the letters or whether Cox had asked for help for his son.
On May 25, 2021, McLemore was taken to Jackson County Jail and charged with battery with bodily injury to a public safety officer and resisting law enforcement after allegedly throwing punches at a Jackson County Sheriff’s deputy who had responded to single-vehicle accident on U.S. 31, court records state.
The officer was able to dodge the punches before punching McLemore in the right cheek and the chin and conducting a double-leg takedown. At that point, the officer was able to pin McLemore to the ground and handcuff him.
“While waiting for Jackson County EMS to arrive on scene, Joshua began making strange comments about ‘gangsters’ chasing him and demons attempting to dismember him,” according to court records.
The lawsuit was pending in federal court as of Wednesday afternoon.
