Tommy Britt
Tommy Britt, 23, graduated from Oak Hills High School in 2012 and planned to attend college, and his parents were hopeful he would recover from addiction, his family said. He died on November 22, 2016, less than a month after he was booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. His family's wrongful death lawsuit says jail staff did not give him timely medical care for an infection and heroin withdrawal, and that after finding him unresponsive, staff held him in a restraint chair for hours. The family says he was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where his organs failed, and the lawsuit attributes his death to an infection that destroyed his aortic valve.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). His family's wrongful death lawsuit says jail staff did not give him timely medical care for an infection and heroin withdrawal, and that he was held in a restraint chair for hours after he was found unresponsive; the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on pending litigation.
Reported by: family and their attorney, in a wrongful death lawsuit (family or their lawyers); Hamilton County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held him).
Lawsuit: His family sued in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that Hamilton County Justice Center staff delayed medical care for an infection and heroin withdrawal, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.