Disturbing footage shows a terrified neurodivergent 19-year-old desperately asking cops to listen to him before he repeatedly slammed his head on a cell door and died.
Isaiah Trammell, was taunted, belittled and threatened by nine guards as he begged for his medication at the Montgomery County Jail in Ohio. He was taken there after he was arrested following a mental health episode in March, 2023.
After fatally-injuring himself, he was taken to a hospital where he later died.
In surveillance videos obtained by The Columbus Dispatch, officers are seen telling Trammell he was 'ridiculous,' 'embarrassing' and 'acting like an a**.'
He was strapped into a restraint chair twice and threatened a third time with severe consequences if he did not calm down.
But Trammell responded to the threats by banging his head on the cell door and screaming: 'Let me out'
No-one listened as Trammell asked for his medications, a phone call and a blanket, according to the Dispatch.
Trammell was then rushed to hospital where he died three days later, with the coroner ruling it was suicide.
Trammell had been taken to jail after neighbors called police because he'd spent the night banging his head into a wall at his home.
He told officers banging his head on the wall was: 'The only way I know to get rid of the crazy in my head'.
Officers booked Trammell when they discovered he was wanted on an outstanding misdemeanor domestic violence warrant. He had allegedly been abusive to his sister and her husband.
Trammell's heartbroken mother Brandy Abner told The Columbus Patch that Trammel had a history of banging his head as a coping mechanism which often saw him end up in hospital.
She had not been aware of the outstanding warrant against her son.
'We always call when he begins to rage - it's a mental health call, not an "arrest me" call,' she said.
The 19-year-old told officers he suffered from ADHD and did not want to live.
Trammell was put on suicide watch, meaning he was trip-searched and isolated in a safe cell.
However, according to the Dispatch, he wasn't given a mattress, blanket or a suicide-resistant gown.
'He hated his body to be exposed and he kept telling them. He hated to be confined. Absolutely that would trigger him,' his mother said.
Officers allegedly kept him on the restraint chair for more than an hour, which is against Ohio standards for restraints.
The cops also continued to threaten to put Trammell into the chair a third time. The chair is supposed to be a last resort and used after providing medication.
When one officer said they couldn't use the restraint chair, another cop replied: 'Just put the chair in front of his fu***** 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.
'Isaiah would be alive today had he been treated with dignity and respect in the jail by staff concerned for his health and well-being. Instead of listening to his cries for medication he was laughed at and ignored. We need accountability for what happened to him,' said Yvonne Currington, retired nurse and Jail Coalition member.
The Sheriff's office told Dayton Daily News on Monday that ODRC's Bureau of Detention found no 'deficiencies' in how the sheriff's office handled his death.
'Medical and mental health providers at the jail provided treatment to Trammell from the time he was booked into jail until he was transported to a local hospital,' said the sheriff's office spokeswoman Christine Bevins.
'Although people facing charges for violent crimes shouldn't be released to society to deal with, our community needs a medical facility with a lockdown unit that can better handle those who are in crisis.'
If you have a mentally ill family member, calling the police on them is the worst thing that you can possibly do. You're basically sending them to the death chamber. How many times does this need to happen before people realize that? NO LIVES MATTER to cops and the lives of mentally ill people certainly don't matter to them. In fact, the police are far MORE likely to abuse their power on people who they feel aren't mentally competent enough to do anything about it.
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So let's say you do have an r-slurred family member spazzing out in dangerous manner. Who are you supposed to call for help?
Fire and EMS will just wait for police back up once they figure out the nature of the situation. Social services doesn't have an emergency line either. Plus, the mentally compromised can be dangerous when aggressive and the police are the only ones trained to deal with that kind of risk in any capacity.
Moral grandstanding about what the cops did here doesn't solve anything until you have a WORKABLE plan for how to deal with these situations. Besides just throwing money at useless programs, I mean.
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Took some acting skills to pull off, but I once got an r-slured cousin having a schizo episode treatment without getting the cops involved by faking an injury on myself and saying I had to go to the hospital. Asked him to come with me, then the second I was alone with the intake nurse I told them what was happening, they went and asked him a couple questions and quickly figured out he was nuts and had him committed.
Knew the local police department were trigger happy morons and his PTSD-ridden veteran butt would 100% fight them and probably get shot. Thankfully the meds actually worked on him and he's been functional for the years since.
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This is also how I tricked my brother into getting committed into alcohol rehab
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Thank you for your service !schizos
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!followers this guy is a genius, I would want to be pinged to see a comment like this so you will be too.
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Mental hospitals, ideally forever.
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Licensed mental health professionals are who need to be dealing with mental health crises, not cops. There is already a number for such emergencies - 988.
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R-slurred
white
women
can't deal with violent
r-slurs who try to kill their family
members
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Until those professionals are given nationwide legal protection then no. I could lose my license if a nut attacks me, I hip-throw him, and he get a booboo
. Health care staff
are completely cucked
when it comes to violent
patients.
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In theory, if there's a warrant for someone's arrest and they have medications prescribed, then the cops could be automatically authorized to get the drugs. HIPAA doesn't allow that currently but it's possible. Technically they don't even need to know the diagnosis, just the prescription instructions.
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