Since June 29, three inmates have passed away in custody at the Cascade County Detention Center.
On June 29, 51-year-old Leon Laverdure died. Lulius Lowe, 28, passed away on July 5. Andrew Swager, 58, died on July 10. The Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office, which provided the coroner in these cases, confirmed the identities of the deceased.
Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter stated in a social media video on Monday that two deaths were due to suicide, while the third was caused by a drug overdose. He mentioned in an interview with Montana Free Press that he couldn’t disclose the individual who died from an overdose due to the ongoing investigation.
Slaughter reassured that all detention center staff are equipped to administer naloxone, also known as Narcan, to reverse opioid overdoses.
“If there’s an emergency at our facility, Narcan is used,” Slaughter explained. “We will use it multiple times if necessary.”
All three inmates died shortly after being booked at the detention center. Laverdure was booked on June 26, just three days before his death, for drug and traffic offenses. Swager was booked four days before his passing on various charges, including criminal endangerment and assaulting a peace officer.
Lowe was booked on an arson charge on July 4, related to a fire at the Grizzly Inn, and died the next day.
Sgt. Pat McDuffie from the Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office revealed that Laverdure’s death was ruled a suicide, while the causes of death for the other two inmates are pending. State criminal investigators will take over the cases, and an internal review within the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office is in progress.
In his social media video, the sheriff highlighted that jails are not adequately equipped to handle individuals with severe mental health issues.
“Sometimes, we are unaware of these mental health issues until a tragic event occurs,” Slaughter expressed.
Slaughter and the county have previously faced lawsuits from inmates who died at the detention center.
In April 2021, Michael Lee Alexander, Jr., died by suicide while in detention on a misdemeanor assault charge. An inquest revealed that Alexander, Jr., was in a cell designated for inmates with mental health issues. Due to understaffing, officers failed to check on him for nearly three and a half hours before discovering him.
An inquest jury determined that the detention staff did not have criminal intent in Alexander Jr.’s case. His estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county, resulting in a $550,000 settlement to the family in October 2023.
Another ongoing wrongful death lawsuit was filed after Aleesha Kempa died by suicide in the detention center in September 2022 while awaiting transfer to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. The lawsuit alleges that detention staff did not properly screen and monitor Kempa.
Slaughter mentioned that his office recently secured a $3 million grant for mental health diversion services, known as a mobile response unit, from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. This grant will be used to establish a unit at the detention center to monitor inmates with severe mental health needs.
Gov. Greg Gianforte announced in January that up to $7.5 million in funding will be allocated for local mobile crisis response programs as part of a broader behavioral health initiative.
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