A federal civil suit has been filed against Cascade County and Sheriff Jesse Slaughter in connection with a 2022 jail suicide.

John Kempa, on behalf of Aleesha Mae Kempa, filed the civil complaint in district court in December. The case was transferred to federal court on Jan. 10.

Aleesha Kempa was in the Cascade County Adult Detention Center when she committed suicide in her cell on Sept. 3, 2022.

Kempa’s family alleges in their suit negligence on the part of the jail and that her rights were violated.

In the lawsuit, the Kempa family states that the Montana Jail Standards of 2016 requires detention facilities have policies and procedures for screening for and delivery of mental health care to a mentally ill and/or suicide-prone inmate, according to court documents.

The Kempa family states in their suit that a detention facility is required to inspect and maintain its first aid equipment.

In August 2023, Kempa’s estate presented their complaints to the county attorney and clerk and recorder offices. In October, the county responded disputing the value of the claims.

In October, a federal judge dismissed a case against Cascade County and Slaughter over a 2021 suicide death of an inmate at the jail.

The county settled with the inmate’s family for $550,000.

County settles jail suicide lawsuit from $550K [2023]

Kempa’s estate argues that the county and sheriff breached their duty “by failing to ensure that detainees do not suffer and die while being housed” in the jail and that their “breach of duty caused or contributed to Ms. Kempa’s suicide while detained,” according to court documents.

Kempa’s estate argues in their suit that the county and sheriff violated her rights by “failing to follow their policies, customs, or practices of providing the proper number of trained personnel to properly screen and address her mental health status, as well as safely house and protect her while detained,” according to court documents.

Kempa was 35 at the time of her death and her estate argues a wrongful death claim because she had a life expectancy of about 49 more years and her family has suffered as a result, according to court documents.

The county held a coroner’s inquest into Kempa’s death, as is required for in-custody deaths, on Feb. 16, 2023.

An inquest is designed to determine if a death occurred by criminal means.

Sheriff, county sued in federal court over 2021 inmate suicide [2022]

According to the inquest transcript, Kempa was in a lockdown cell by herself on the day of her death where checks were required by corrections staff roughly every 30 minutes. She was not on suicide watch, which requires checks every 15 minutes.

Michael Lenahan, a CCSO detention sergeant, said the jail is required to have a minimum of 10 officers on duty for night shift. He said they rarely had more than that because staffing was critically low at the time of Kempa’s death, but they had 10 or 11 officers on duty that night, according to the inquest transcript.

Brian Kent, a detention officer who was delivering breakfast the morning of Kempa’s death, said that Kempa had been in the jail multiple times previously and that she would be put in general population but then moved to the lockdown cells for her own safety.

Kent said that on previous stays, other inmates would take advantage of Kempa and steal her money so she had been moved to the lockdown cells then too, according to the inquest transcript.

Inmates dies at Cascade County jail [2021]

Kent discovered Kempa’s body while delivering breakfast and immediately issued a medical call that multiple other staff responded to, including Lenahan and medical staff who started life saving measures within seconds of discovering her body in an attempt to revive Kempa, according to the inquest transcript.

Kent said that Kempa had her headphones in and was dancing around the dayroom, singing and telling staff and others how proud she was of her young child and telling stories the night before her death, according to the inquest transcript.

During previous stays in the jail, Kempa had been on suicide watch, according to multiple witnesses during the coroner’s inquest. During her stay in September 2022, she had not given any indication that she was suicidal, detention officers and medical staff testified during the inquest.

Kent and Rita Moyer, a nurse in the jail, testified about the jail protocols for anyone expressing suicidal ideations, which include putting a person in areas where staff can monitor them and more regular checks, among other precautions, according to the inquest transcript.

After losing daughter to suicide, Texas couple cycling cross country to raise awareness [2017]

Moyer testified that everyone coming into the jail is screened for suicide and medical staff watches for signs of suicidal ideations. She said that inmates can request medical services and that Kempa had made such requests during past stays in the jail.

According to the officials testifying during the inquest, Kempa had been assessed several times by mental health professionals and had been in the state hospital several times.

Kory Larsen, a county attorney, said that Kempa was in the jail awaiting transport to the state hospital at the time of her death.

Kempa hung herself by looping a piece of piping from the collar or waist of the jail issued scrubs around her neck to the door and using her body weight. The piping was likely preexisting in the cell because it wasn’t consistent with her clothes in the cell, Bruce McDermott, an agent with the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation’s Major Crimes Unit, testified.

During the inquest, jail staff and investigators testified that inmates often looped some kind of material through the vent in the door so they could close the doors themselves since they can otherwise only be closed from the outside. They testified that they’re common in the jail and though staff would remove them, the ties would quickly reappear, according to the transcript.

McDermott said that Kempa left notes in her cell stating she didn’t want to be resuscitated and to give her love and hugs to her kids and family at her funeral.

Local agencies working to provide crisis response after Alluvion cuts program

McDermott testified, “you would not expect them to be talking about suicide when they really want. Once they’ve reconciled themselves and made the decision that they want to, it would be counterproductive to talk about suicide, because they know the protocol. If they even mention it, and they don’t even mention it to fellow inmates because there might be somebody who is trying to do them a favor and rescue them. So at the times when they have talked about suicide, it’s that cry for help; they want some intervention. But by the time that they do it, they’ve already committed themselves that they want out of the pain that they experience on this earth. She was prancing around happily and such, and that’s another variable that we see, is a lot of times people, once they’ve made their peace with it and they know that that’s what they want to do, they’re happy and they show no outward sign of distress. It’s unusual, it’s hard to understand, but we’re using our rational minds to understand this irrational decision.”

McDermott, the investigator testified that policies and procedures were followed.

The jury found that there was no criminal means that caused Kempa’s death in the county jail.