WI inmate dies from dehydration

This week’s post focuses on an recent and close-to-home ARTICLE/VIDEO focusing a man who died while incarcerated in the Milwaukee County Jail. There’s ALOT to unpack here.

The man was arrested for firing a weapon into a public crowd, which resulted in one person being hit by a stray bullet. So, let’s not forget that the allegations were pretty serious.

Still, no one died due to his behavior…except him. The man was found dead in his solitary confinement cell and the September 2016 coroner’s report indicates the cause of death as “homicide.” The report stipulates that the man died from severe dehydration. So whatever one feels about the allegations that landed him in jail, the punishment (ultimately his own death) isn’t proportional to the crime committed.

Interestingly,  it seems that this man apparently had past mental health issues, which makes one wonder why he wasn’t placed into a medical facility (not jail).

Of course all of this will come out sooner or later. Thoughts?

 

12 responses to “WI inmate dies from dehydration”

  1. Paxton Bergin says:

    I do not believe that there is any excuse for an inmate dying from dehydration. That is completely inappropriate and not justified whatsoever. The way that I look at this is: if I were in prison, would I want to receive the same treatment as this Thomas received? and the answer is no absolutely not. No one should suffer from dehydration when water is readily available like it is in Milwaukee. Although what he did was not right I would agree with the statement that the punishment he received is not proportional to his crimes.
    One thing I am curious about however is the fact that the video and article said he should be in a mental institution due to his actions, conditions, and past mental heath history. The article nor video didnt provide information whether or not the family was trying to get Thomas into a mental health facility BEFORE his death. Not that it makes any sort of difference in his death, but if they were not trying to do that it just makes me a little curious as to why not. Why would they wait until after his death to make it a pressing matter that he ought to have been in a mental heath facility?

  2. Michael Brody says:

    Given a laymen perspective, and considering the serious allegations brought against Mr. Thomas, I do not think he would have many sympathizers. However, his own death from dehydration is unproportional, and hence, in violation of his constitutional rights.
    With that said, the article neglects to state why water was not supplied or cut off from Mr. Thomas? Did the facility have a legitimate security issue with Mr. Thomas receiving water? I know this may seem ridiculous, but anything can be a possibility.
    In general, I think this case needs a lot of investigative work. First, the family needs answers and deserves justice if wrong-doing occurred. Second, of course it is terrible that Mr. Thomas lost his life, but the case also makes the Milwaukee county jail system look beyond bad–ultimately undermining the entire system. Whoever is at fault, there are many elements to answer and luckily there are motivated individuals who are up to the task in our legal system.
    Perhaps the investigation will uncover some positives and honor the loss of Mr. Thomas by sparking reforms along with enhancement of civil rights and hold wrong-doers accountable, if any.

  3. Adam Earle says:

    I think that is just one of many problems that we have in our prisons today. I feel that many of the people that work in our prisons don’t have the proper training. In the case of Terrill Thomas, I don’t think that he should have been in a normal jail, I think that he should have either been in a mental institution or if he were in jail, be an area where he could be watched by people who have more training to be able to handle him better. Nevertheless, when a death of an inmate happens by the direct actions of those in power at the jail, I think that they need to be held accountable. The situation with Mr. Thomas should never have happened.

  4. Kasey Miller says:

    If in fact the information from the couple inmates is true, this is undeniably a homicide case. Depriving an individual the need for water, a basic human necessity. As this is a tragic case and wrong in many ways, I do believe there is an underlying problem that needs to be solved. Individuals with mental health issues receiving the treatment they actually need. In so many instances people with mental issues want to receive help. But what do we have in place? A 72 hour placement in a mental institution if they are planning to hurt themselves. And when that clock hits 72 hours, see ya later. Back into the real world with no follow ups. These people need a lot more time than 72 hours to get help. Help that doesn’t make their family broke if they don’t have insurance, and help that is truly attempting to fix the problem for the long run and not just the short term. This is what I think is the underlying cause with mental health issues and how we need to change the process we currently have to make these individuals better off.

  5. Tim Dies says:

    This case is very interesting, I am specifically focused on the reason as to why the inmate did not have water, it is not stated in the article and it would provide answers as to why this might have happened. In any case i think that it is absurd that an inmate died in this way, If someone is punished to death and they are given lethal injection that doesn’t constitute a cruel and unusual punishment. if someone dies in a cell because of dehydration and the correctional officers took away water, that is cruel and unusual. Regardless of what the reason was that they took the water away, it is prion and its correctional officers job to make sure that inmates are provide the basic needs of living. At the moment this incident looks like a big failure in the justice department but we should wait and see what the official investigation concludes to determine what wrongdoing if any occurred.

  6. Shannon Lefebvre says:

    It’s obvious that Thomas’s death was not justified. I can’t help but wonder why he was not given water and had his water shut off. If he was bipolar and had metal issues, then does that mean he may have tried to drown himself? There are a lot more questions that arise from this situation and the article very briefly describes some of the issues and questions. I think that him dying of dehydration is uncalled for and was clearly an act of hatred towards him, however he would have been showing signs of his illness and I’m surprised none of the guards did anything. I think that an investigation is a great idea, because of how many questions and unknown factors are involved.

  7. tiarra merrill says:

    This case is extremely unjustifiable; our prison system is worsen as the days go by. These individuals do not have the proper training credentials, education etc. This is another case that I feel will get thrown up under the rug once again. This is no surprise that this as occurred; things like this is happening daily within our prisons. Nothing is being done about it; yes i think that there should be extensive investigation on this. this correctional institution needs to be held accountable for this and any other guards who was accountable for this mans water being turned of which caused his dehydration. Inmates shouldn’t have to go through this stuff. Is it a such thing as enough punishment? Or are we focused on punishing these individuals much further to where there are more deaths like this within the prison walls? There are a lot of open holds that needs to be filled within this case. I hope that the family get justice for this because they deserve it. Seems like the law sometimes abuse their power. winding up in solitary confinement, in his cell about 23-hours a day.

    It also notes water had been cut off to his toilet, something Heipt says another inmate told them.

  8. tiarra merrill says:

    This case is extremely unjustifiable; our prison system is worsen as the days go by. These individuals do not have the proper training credentials, education etc. This is another case that I feel will get thrown up under the rug once again. This is no surprise that this as occurred; things like this is happening daily within our prisons. Nothing is being done about it; yes i think that there should be extensive investigation on this. this correctional institution needs to be held accountable for this and any other guards who was accountable for this mans water being turned of which caused his dehydration. Inmates shouldn’t have to go through this stuff. Is it a such thing as enough punishment? Or are we focused on punishing these individuals much further to where there are more deaths like this within the prison walls? There are a lot of open holds that needs to be filled within this case. I hope that the family get justice for this because they deserve it. Seems like the law sometimes abuse their power.

  9. Brandon Layber says:

    What had happened to Terrill Thomas is completely inexcusable and any knowing employees in the Milwaukee County Jail involved in this incident should be dealt with accordingly. Terrill Thomas had his water purposely turned off as what I’d assume to be a punishment or deterrence for his actions in the prison. Similar to the blog a few weeks back, it is evident that basic human needs are being neglected in prisons. Although I do believe some prisoners may never become rehabilitated, it still does not mean they should be neglected of health standards and supervision. One problem I see in this incident is the mishandling of delicate situation guards seem to doing in recent years. Every prisoner is different, and most I’d assume could be prescribed with a disorder as to why they are incarcerated. Guards similar to police officers have a highly unpredictable profession that requires decision-making. People in the workplace should be held accountable for any wrongdoing in their profession, and I believe further investigation will serve the family and community the justice it deserves.

  10. Liz Jackson says:

    This a sad thing to hear about, especially that it was regarding a neglected, mentally unstable inmate. The circumstances are inevitably careless, however, there is a lot that needs to be investigated for this to very clearly have a decision made on. Yes, he did die from dehydration, and YES it would be the fault of the jail, BUT there is always more to what is going on behind the scenes of the media. Limited information also leads to poor headlining which is something everyone knows, especially in today’s media world. We should find out reasoning, who specifically was in charge of the care for this inmate, and if there was involved counseling for this inmate. In my opinion, this is indeed neglect for an inmate that caused the death, but the focus needs to be on specified information.

  11. Sydney Hanick says:

    What happened to this inmate was inhumane. Cutting a human being off from a necessary means of living is not at all justifiable for what he did in this specific case. Having it happen in Milwaukee makes it even more realistic, being so close to home. You don’t believe these things really happen. I believe they should conduct an intense investigation to pin point all the guards,or staff who were at fault for this and held any responsibility for it. I think this should be done for the justice of the family, friends, and the safety of the rest of the inmates at that facility.

  12. Trenisha Battiste says:

    I think that what they did to that inmate was just wrong. Just because he’s in jail doesn’t mean he doesn’t get to be treated as a human being.there needs to be further investigation on this case to see what was really going on. Also, this inmate had mental health issues which needed to be treated. He shouldn’t have been in jail in the first place. everything about this case just makes me feel uneasy because there could’ve been ways for him to get better without him dying.

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