DAYTON — As the investigation into the death of a man in the custody of the Montgomery County Jail continues, new body camera video is giving more insight into what happened.
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News Center 7 first showed security video of the restraint of Christian Black, 25, on Monday. Now, new body camera videos are letting us hear what happened on the morning of March 24.
One video shows Black being wrestled to the ground near the jail’s first-floor intake center at 1:30 a.m. on the morning of March 24.
Body camera video shows corrections officers handcuff Black and pull him into a chair. One of them explains they discovered him bleeding after ramming his head into a door or wall.
“He was lying underneath the door there, so we called her and he bum-rushed out of the cell,” one officer can be heard saying.
Black remains silent, and a supervisor asks if he’s alright. After getting no response, they then ask if he’s non-verbal.
“Yeah, he was like that all night, last night,” one officer responds.
Black then startles everyone as he sits in the chair, lifting his head and speaking.
“Do I need to call Mr. Shackleford tonight?” Black asks.
The video shows Black go silent again. From there, corrections officers take him back to a cell, warning him to behave when they remove the handcuffs.
“Do not move until the door shuts,” one corrections officer says.
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Things didn’t stay calm. Eight hours later, Black was banging his head on the cell door, resulting in a fatal confrontation with corrections officers, which his family’s lawyers have labeled a killing.
“They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, we’re going to show you a video of the inhumane treatment and murder of Christian Black,” Michael Wright, attorney for Black’s family, said.
One video shows corrections officers rush into a cell after Black began hitting his head on the door. They’d fire pepper spray into a slot in the door even before they rushed in at 9:26 a.m.
The confrontation quickly spills onto the ground as they pull Black out of the cell.
Jail employees struggle to handcuff Black on the ground for about 90 seconds. They then begin to move him to the restraint chair. Black can be heard screaming throughout.
“Shoot me (expletive),” Black can be heard saying.
He’s then transferred into the chair, and his legs are immobilized at 9:31 a.m. He’s yelling, but before corrections officers secure his arms, they bend him forward at the waist to make it easier.
“We’re waiting,” one jail employee says. “Let him tire himself out.”
Black groans as he is forced forward, bent at the waist, appearing to have trouble breathing. The last thing heard from him is a two-word plea.
“Help me,” he says.
Black sits that way for about a minute before corrections officers secure his arm. He then stays that way for another few minutes before being raised upright.
That’s when one employee can be heard asking if Black is breathing.
A jail medical worker comes in and listens to Black’s chest.
“Can you get him out of this chair because I don’t feel a heartbeat,” the medical worker says.
Video shows corrections officers scrambling to pull Black out of the restraint chair and begin life-saving measures.
He’s later placed on a stretcher and wheeled to a Dayton ambulance. He did not regain consciousness and died two days later.
The Montgomery County Coroner determined Black’s cause of death was mechanical and positional asphyxia. His manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Since his death, 10 jail employees involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
Black’s family wants those employees arrested and charged with his death.
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