3 Montana inmates die in Cascade County Detention Center in 2 weeks

Three inmates have died in custody at the Cascade County Detention Center since June 29.

Leon Laverdure, 51, died on June 29. Julius Lowe, 28, died on July 5. Andrew Swager, 58, died on July 10. Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office, which provided the coroner in the cases, confirmed the names of the deceased.

Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said in a video posted to social media on Monday that two of the deaths were by suicide while the third was from a drug overdose. Speaking with Montana Free Press, he didn’t specify which person died from an overdose, citing the ongoing investigation.

He did say that all detention center officers are trained to use naloxone, also known as Narcan, which can reverse opioid drug overdoses.

“If you go down in our facility, we Narcan you,” Slaughter said. “Multiple times if we have to.”

All three of the deceased died within days of being booked at the detention center. Laverdure was booked on June 26 — three days before he died — on drug and traffic charges, according to Slaughter. Swager was booked four days before his death on multiple charges, including criminal endangerment and assaulting a peace officer.

Lowe was booked on July 4 on an arson charge related to a fire started at the Grizzly Inn. He died on July 5.

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Lewis and Clark Sheriff’s Office’s Sgt. Pat McDuffie said that Laverdure’s death was ruled a suicide and that the causes of death of the other two inmates were pending. State criminal investigators will take over the cases, and an internal review within the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office is also planned.

In his social media video, the sheriff said that jails are “not equipped” to handle people with serious mental health issues.

“Sometimes we don’t know that people have those types of issues, and we just don’t know until they commit that ultimate act,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter and the county have already been defendants in lawsuits brought by inmates who died in the detention center.

In April 2021, Michael Lee Alexander, Jr., died by suicide while in the detention center on a misdemeanor assault charge. A coroner’s inquest of the death revealed that Alexander, Jr., was in a cell reserved for inmates having mental health issues. The jail was short-staffed, and officers didn’t check on him for nearly three and a half hours before they found him.

A jury in an inquest determined that detention staff didn’t act with any criminal intent. Alexander Jr.’s estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county in federal court. That case was dismissed in October 2023 with a $550,000 settlement to the family.

Another wrongful death lawsuit is ongoing in federal court. The estate of Aleesha Kempa sued after Kempa died by suicide in the detention center in September 2022 while awaiting transfer to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. The lawsuit claims that detention staff did not properly screen and monitor Kempa. That case is ongoing.

Slaughter said his office was approved on Tuesday for a $3 million grant for mental health diversion services, also referred to as a mobile response unit. The grant is through the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Alluvion Health previously offered the services but stopped last year after state funding ended.

Slaughter intends to use that grant money toward a unit at the detention center that can directly monitor inmates with serious mental health needs.

Gov. Greg Gianforte announced in January that up to $7.5 million in funding would be available for local mobile crisis response programs as part of a larger behavioral health initiative.

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This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.