DETROIT (WXYZ) — In the 110 days since an inmate was attacked—and later died—in the Wayne County jail, there’s a lot that hasn’t happened.
The man charged with the murder, despite a history of severe mental illness, hasn’t received any treatment for it, according to his attorney.
Sheriff Raphael Washington’s office hasn’t explained how so many different systems failed on the day of the attack, and whether they’ve been fixed.
And the Sheriff himself hasn’t taken questions about any of it, despite mounting evidence that the death could have been prevented.
RELATED: Wayne County Jail missed multiple red flags before inmate's brutal death
In August, following the death of inmate Thomas Carr, Sheriff Washington released a one-page statement largely blaming the attack on a deputy and supervisor who failed to perform their rounds. To be clear, the deputy's absence—he was missing from the inmates' ward for up to two hours—allowed the attack to go on for a prolonged period.
But as 7 Action News has previously reported, the failures in the jail that day ran much deeper than that.
Carr’s cellmate, Claude Lewis, was booked into the jail on a domestic violence charge. His criminal record showed 8 prior convictions, including two separate convictions for aggravated battery, one for burning or exploding property and another for felon in possession of a firearm.
Despite a violent history, Lewis was placed with Carr who was serving a sentence for a DUI.
Secondly, a check in the Law Enforcement Information Network—or LEIN—revealed a warning that Lewis “may harm self or others,” was “unable to attend to basic needs or understand the need for treatment” and had been involuntarily committed a year prior. But he wasn’t placed on the county’s mental health floor, where he would have his own cell and receive closer supervision.
Third, Lewis’s mother reported calling jail staff the day her son was booked, telling them he needed his psychiatric medications. She says her call was never returned.
Fourth, 7 Action News has learned that Lewis himself disclosed his history of mental illness during jail intake. Medical staff flagged him for additional mental health screening the next day. But before it ever happened, Lewis would be accused of bludgeoning Thomas Carr. Carr’s family has since hired an attorney.
“Another red flag. Of many, unfortunately,” said Rita Soka, an attorney representing Lewis as he faces homicide charges. “A lot of people failed to take care of this situation and make sure that he was placed in the proper cell on the proper floor.”
Lewis was recently ordered for a competency evaluation at Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline, where he was deemed "incompetent but restorable." If he is restored to competency, Lewis can stand trial for Carr's homicide.
He is currently waiting in the Wayne County jail for a state psychiatric bed, where the waiting usually lasts several months.
“Claude is someone who is in critical need of this psychiatric treatment,” Soka said, “and we hope we can get him in sooner rather than later.”
After avoiding Channel 7’s questions for months, reporter Ross Jones caught up with Sheriff Raphael Washington at a public event in Dearborn, where he used his bodyguards to shield himself from the station's questions.
Instead, he left the Dearborn event after his bodyguards ushered him out a side door, then blocked Jones and a Channel 7 photographer from walking through it.
Captain Reid Chakrabarty, who leads the internal affairs section for the sheriff’s office, would not say whether the county’s internal investigation into the attack and ultimate death of inmate Thomas Carr is finished or still ongoing.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
