Streck said 10 jail staff were placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation continues. He added that this is a procedural step and not an implication of guilt.
Christian Black, 25, of Zanesville, was taken into custody March 23 after allegedly crashing a stolen vehicle on Interstate 70 in Englewood. Emergency crews reportedly took him to a local hospital for treatment, then to the Montgomery County Jail.
At the jail early March 24, Black was involved in a fight with jail staff, with the sheriff’s office saying that the staff used force, including a Taser to subdue him. Later, they said Black forcefully and repeatedly hit his head on his cell door, leading to jail staff entering the room to subdue him and a second fight breaking out. Staff again used force and a Taser, but also used pepper spray during the second fight, the sheriff’s office said.
He was then put in handcuffs and an emergency restraint chair, and medics were called to take Black to the hospital to be checked.
During the wait, the sheriff’s office said Black’s condition deteriorated and he went into full arrest, and despite staff performing CPR and administering oxygen, medicine and a defibrillator before medics arrived and took him to the hospital.
He was declared dead two days later.
Following the death, Black’s family announced they were working with attorneys Michael Wright and Robert Gresham to investigate.
Credit: Bryant Billing
The sheriff said that he had provided copies of video showing events that led up to the fights in the jail and Black being restrained, and said that he promised that following the criminal investigations that there would be “a thorough internal review and investigation to ensure accountability and transparency.”
A Dayton Daily News analysis of state data for 2023 showed that seven people died after being put in custody at the Montgomery County jail that year, more than at any other jail in Ohio.
Then, in 2024 another inmate died in custody after taking a gun from an officer while receiving care at Kettering Health Dayton.
The county is working toward a large-scale renovation of the jail, with plans to finish the design in May and start construction in July, to be complete by spring 2027.
