Inmate Died After 7 Days Without Water in Milwaukee Jail, Prosecutors Say

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Time


Julia Zorthian
9:10 PM ET
 
 
A Milwaukee inmate died after he was deprived of water for seven days of solitary confinement in April 2016, prosecutors said on Monday.

Terrill Thomas, 38, died of dehydration on his eighth day in a solitary confinement cell at Milwaukee County Jail, according to prosecutors as they opened an inquest into his death on Monday. The prosecutors said the inmate had an untreated mental illness and he did not ask for water when officers turned off his supply, the Milwuakee Journal Sentinel reports.

 
Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley said during his opening statement that three officers turned off Thomas' water supply after he flooded another cell, but did not turn it back on or tell other officers about the lack of water. Thomas allegedly lost nearly 35 pounds as he weakened in the solitary cell, and prosecutors said his bi-polar disorder kept him from telling officers about his needs.

"This order to shut off Mr. Thomas' water was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail," Benkley said, the Journal Sentinel reports.

Read more: http://time.com/4753586/miluakee-inmate-died-jail-dehydration-terrill-thomas/

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[center]

Terrill Thomas with his son.

[mountain grammy]

1. Sheriff David Clarke.. his jail

sadists.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. He needs to be in it. Not running it.

[mountain grammy]

8. Yes he does..

[riversedge]

19. Pitchfork Clarke was oo busy speechify at the RNConvention and stumping for Trump to pay

attention to the details of his jails.

[TDale313]

2. They need to be fucking charged and convicted of 1st degree murder.

[cstanleytech]

4. They can be charged with it but I doubt they would be convicted as it would probably be

difficult to prove they planned to kill him.
My guess is they will get a plea deal of involuntary manslaughter but thats probably as far as it will go unless something like emails or voice recordings turn up that prove they planned for it to kill him.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Manslaughter. Criminal neglect. Inmates are in the CARE of the system. . . nt

[forgotmylogin]

6. "The prosecutors said the inmate had an untreated mental illness and he did not ask for water"

He did not ask for water in any of the times they delivered him food?
He was not automatically given water or any other beverage with his meals?

Did they even feed him? Did they even check on him verbally? Did he have an opportunity to tell them he was thirsty? Was he able to buzz the front desk and ask for room-service?

If he's flooding the place, sure, turn off the water but then give him a bottle and keep it refilled. It doesn't have to be fancy water; a gallon jug of tap will do. It would be inhumane not to do that for a pet confined in your care, not to even mention a human being.

[Stuart G]

7. Torture...!!!! Charge them.. no cruel and unudual punsihment !!! k and r...

8th Ammendment... Jail guards knew he was being deprived of water. There was none..He wasn't getting any, and they knew............This story is one of the most disgusting stories I have ever read.....

No cruel or unusual punishment.8th Ammendment

Being deprived of water, all water, ...is beyond belief..

Jefferson, Madison, and Washington...would vomit ....

[angstlessk]

9. Another question...WHY was his mental illness UNTREATED?

Had they treated the mental illness, there would have been no need for solitary confinement

[Sunlei]

14. More and more people are kept in 'jail' because they can't afford bail or the fines & fees.

[Vinca]

10. Everyone from the guards to the sheriff should be charge with murder.

Not manslaughter, not a lesser charge. This was premeditated and it continued for more than a week.

[dembotoz]

11. my son works as a jailor says his job is becoming less corrections and more mental health

bad outcomes are almost inevitable

especially when the facility is run by an all hat not cattle cowboy like clarke

[Sunlei]

12. Jail, not even prison. Guards murdered that man, first degree murder-all those guards KNEW.

I bet they didn't even feed him or check on him those seven days.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. Lock Clarke up.

Give him a cell next to Arapaio.

Sadists.

[CanonRay]

15. I think they call that murder

when you let a guy in a cell die of thirst.

[Bayard]

20. Premeditated Murder

[ck4829]

16. Revolting

[NewRedDawn]

17. The family needs to sue the county

Clarke, state of WI, & little google eyes Walker. That is all the Putin Pukes understand. Take them down through the wallet. That is how Billo went down.

[heaven05]

18. uncalled for and beastly

treatment of prisoner. And that clark is a AA with a loathsome killer personality aka darren wilson, zimmerman the pig. This clark fool is just indicative of how a strong slave mentality still holds sway on some AA minds. This clark fool would be the 'supervisor' of the field.......s. Period. I remember at the height of apartheid demonstrations in South Africa how black african 'police' killed other black africans at the behest of the afrikkkaners running the oppression. It's the same mentality. And it will get worse with this clark fool and all like him under the trumpchump family regime. .....BLACK OR WHITE!!!!