Another Death in County Jail Raises Familiar Questions

Activists and community members picket outside the Milwaukee County Jail in March 2023 to raise awareness about conditions at the facility. (Photo by Devin Blake)

Local jail reform advocates say they have serious concerns about the in-custody death of a 45-year-old at the Milwaukee County Jail on Tuesday morning.

Many of the concerns raised by advocates are not new.

“It’s a very painful sort of flashback of the different cases we’ve encountered where people are in for a bit, or for a duration of time  A… and assistance isn’t provided,” said Alan Chavoya, treasurer and organizer with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

The Alliance is a Black and brown-led grassroots organization that works to end police crimes, advance community control of policing, and build collective power.

The death Tuesday is at least the 10th of a person in Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office custody since June 2022, including six deaths during a 14-month period in 2022 and 2023, and three in 2025.

What we know

According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies picked the man up from the West Allis Police Department at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday and brought him to the Milwaukee County Jail.

During the booking process, Wellpath nursing staff initially medically cleared him, with a secondary medical screening still pending. Shortly before 8:30 a.m. the man told jail staff he had vomited and was not feeling well.

Nurses assessed him and determined he needed to be taken to a hospital.

While an ambulance crew and two deputies prepared to transport him to a hospital, the man experienced a medical emergency, lost his pulse and stopped breathing.

Emergency crews and Milwaukee Fire Department first responders attempted life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m.

‘Did everybody do everything they possibly could have?’

Alan Chavoya, treasurer and organizer with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, speaks at a rally in Milwaukee in 2023. (Pat A. Robinson for Wisconsin Watch)

“The timeline just seems very, very odd,” Chavoya said. “How is it that people are approved or like given the green light to be administered into the jail, and then less than a couple of hours later, the person is vomiting? Where was the failure there?”

Chavoya said the initial medical screening by Wellpath, the jail’s contracted health care provider, also raises questions.

“We’ve had our eye on Wellpath for quite some time, and it’s not just a Milwaukee issue – it’s a nationwide issue,” he said.

Robert Thibault, vice president of Prison Action Milwaukee, an advocacy and support group for justice-impacted people, and a member of the Sheriff’s Community Advisory Board, shared some of Chavoya’s concerns.

“Did everybody do everything they possibly could have? Was everything done that could have possibly been done in a reasonable time?,” Thibault asked.

He pointed to an independent audit completed in 2024 that identified deficiencies in several areas, including mental health services, suicide prevention and staffing.

Thibault did say he recently toured the jail and has seen improvements compared with several years ago.

NNS reached out to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office but did not immediately receive a response.

County executive/candidate for governor reacts

In a written statement to NNS, a spokesperson for the Office of County Executive David Crowley said they’re confident that everything possible was done for this man.

“The cause of death is still under review by the Medical Examiner’s Office, but this incident doesn’t raise concerns about medical care at the jail,” the statement read. “The jail’s medical staff and Milwaukee Fire Department EMS performed lifesaving measures, but despite best efforts, the individual died.”

Milwaukee County Supervisor Justin Bielinski, chair of the County Board’s Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services Committee, said he has spoken with jail officials about the death, but that the investigation will ultimately make clear what happened.

As the investigation proceeds, Chavoya said he wants accountability and concrete steps to prevent another in-custody death.

“Maybe you can’t give us everything, but, at least, get some public trust again by explaining what the steps you are taking to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

What happens next

The mother of woman who died in the Milwaukee County jail speaks at a press conference held by a coalition of legislative Democrats and stakeholders on Nov. 2, 2023, in the Assembly Chamber at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. They spoke about the conditions of confinement in county and state correctional institutions and proposed a package of bills to address the conditions. (Evan Halpop / Wisconsin Watch)

Bielinski said he expects the investigation, being conducted by the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office, to take several months. In the meantime, he said he is looking at what changes could happen to identify medical emergencies sooner.

Bielinski said his focus after incidents like this is to figure out “how can we improve process.”

Specifically, Bielinski wants the county to explore providing wearable health monitors to people awaiting booking.

These devices could potentially track measures such as pulse and blood oxygen levels and then alert staff to a medical emergency sooner, he said, adding that he has asked Wellpath to look into establishing a pilot program for the use of such devices.

“We just give ourselves the chance to get ahead of whatever medical emergency might be happening sooner,” Bielinski said.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.