Jake Dabkowski Inadequate medical staffing at the Allegheny County Jail, jail officials' failure to notify families of deaths in a timely manner and Warden Orlando Harper’s response to families were publicly addressed today at a…
Blunt force trauma to the head cited as…
By Brittany Hailer Paul Spisak, an incarcerated person at the Allegheny County Jail, suffered blunt force trauma to the head resulting in his Jan. 30 death, according to a press release from the Allegheny County…
An incarcerated man died in the Allegheny County…
By Brittany Hailer Jerry Lee Ross Jr., 48, died at the Allegheny County Jail Thursday, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. This death is the third to occur this year and the 14th since…
Her husband died after transfer to the hospital…
By Brittany Hailer For several days, Theresa Harris’ daughter refreshed VineLink, an online portal that indicates if someone is in custody at the Allegheny County Jail, trying to find out if her father was in…
Lack of transparency and oversight leave officials, families…
By Brittany Hailer In Allegheny County, families of incarcerated individuals who die after entering the Allegheny County Jail have difficulty getting details about what happened to their loved ones. Autopsy reports remain closed to the…
In most of the state autopsy reports for…
By Brittany Hailer Allegheny County and Philadelphia County are the only counties in Pennsylvania where autopsy reports from coroner and medical examiners offices are not available to the public, according to state law. Allegheny County…
Thirteen men died after going to the Allegheny…
By Brittany Hailer Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, 13 men incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail have died, the most recent, a 26-year-old who collapsed and called out for help…
Medical emergency in the Allegheny County Jail results…
As with other jail deaths, few details have been made available By Brittany Hailer Another man incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail has died and his family has questions about what happened to him. Gerald…
A death in a Allegheny County Jail exposes…
Brittany Hailer This story first appeared in the Pittsburgh Current in December 2020. For days, members of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board did not know who had really died within the walls of the…