Thomas Pesina, 58, had been in the Cleveland County jail for nearly a year.
As The Oklahoman reported, he was waiting to be transferred to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinitia after being found incompetent to stand trial. He died Saturday, the second inmate death in weeks in Cleveland County.
A federal lawsuit was filed in January against the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Turn Key Health Clinics and three medical professionals for allegedly contributing to the death of Shannon Hanchett, who died in the detention center’s custody.
Hanchett, 38, died in a medical cell on Dec. 8, 2022, hours before she was scheduled to receive a court-ordered mental health evaluation from Griffin Memorial Hospital.
That same month, Noble grandmother Kathryn Milano also died while in Cleveland County’s care, also while awaiting a mental health evaluation.
The investigation into Hanchett’s death revealed that jailers routinely missed required distressed detainee checks that were required every 15 minutes.
On Feb. 24, 2023, 44-year-old Moore resident Joe Allen Sims Jr. died by suicide.
On April 19, 2024, William Kenneth Moore, 36, died at Norman Regional Hospital following a medical episode at the jail, according to jail officials.
The Hanchett lawsuit, one of several similar lawsuits against Turn Key in multiple jurisdictions, claims the vendor’s contract disincentivized staff from seeking more urgent care.
The problems extend well beyond Cleveland County.
An Oklahoma Watch investigation revealed in December that more than half of the people who died while in the custody of an Oklahoma jail over the course of a year had mental and/or physical health problems that often went untreated.
Yesterday, the New York Times published a similar story about mental health and U.S. prisons. That story also found that a lack of responsiveness to mental health problems was a factor in multiple deaths.
More worth reading:
Schools Caught Between Red State Backlash and Federal Rules
Oklahoma and other conservative state governments are forbidding school districts from doing what the Department of Education says they must, under new Title IX regulations on students’ gender identity. [NYT]
OU to End Women’s Leadership Program
A University of Oklahoma program that has trained hundreds of female leaders will shutter because of a gubernatorial executive order that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programs. [Oklahoma Voice]
Boy Saves Parents After Tornado
A nine-year-old boy is being hailed as a hero for saving his parents’ lives when an Oklahoma tornado tossed the family’s truck into surrounding trees, after reportedly telling them, “Mom, Dad, please don’t die, I will be back” before sprinting for help. [The Guardian]
The University of Oklahoma will field the state’s first collegiate women’s ice hockey team in the 2024-2025 season, playing in the College Hockey South league.
Ciao for now,
Ted Streuli
Executive Director, Oklahoma Watch
tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org
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