Ohio county agrees to $7M settlement over man’s death after jail guards restrained him, family says

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The family of a man who died after being restrained in an Ohio county jail said Tuesday that they have reached a $7 million settlement agreement with the county and are pushing officials there to prevent something like the death from happening again.

A lawyer for the family of Christian Black, who died March 26, said Montgomery County has taken responsibility and officials there have indicated they would take steps, such as adding inpatient beds in the jail for people in need of mental health help.

But the lawyer, Michael Wright, also told reporters at a news conference that he and Black’s family want to see more, such as jail officers charged and convicted in their son’s death.

Christian Black’s mother, Misty Black, said the settlement in the family’s lawsuit against Montgomery County doesn’t end her pursuit of justice for her son.

“This check doesn’t stop the criminal side,” Misty Black told reporters. “It’s not going to make me go away. I’m here. Justice for Christian Black. I won’t stop until justice is served.”

Christian Black, 25, was in the jail after he crashed a stolen car, police have said. There, video from inside the jail released by Black’s family and attorneys showed Black inside a cell, yelling and repeatedly banging his fist and head against a glass door.

Nine deputies gathered outside the cell, with some rushing in. They pinned Black to the floor and put handcuffs on him before wrestling him into a restraint chair, the video showed.

Black’s head flopped and slumped while he was in the restraint chair. The video showed that jail staff checked Black’s eyes, took his blood pressure and rubbed his chest while he was unresponsive in the chair.

About nine minutes passed between the time he was put in the chair and when the jail staff started CPR, the family’s attorneys have said.

Black died two days after he was taken to a hospital. The county coroner’s office has said that Black likely died from positional asphyxia, which happens when the chest can’t expand, starving the body of oxygen. His death was ruled a homicide by the coroner.

In a statement, Montgomery County’s administrator, Michael Colbert, and the sheriff’s office expressed sympathy for Black’s family.

“We recognize that no amount of money can ever replace him,” Colbert said.

The county’s board of commissioners is undertaking a broad commitment to behavioral health needs, including creating a new, nearly $20 million behavioral health unit inside the jail that is expanding the number of medical beds from 12 to 112, Colbert said.

No jail personnel have been criminally charged, and the Montgomery County sheriff’s office declined comment on the settlement, saying an investigation was ongoing.