Louisville family wants accountability after 34-year-old's overdose death at Metro Corrections

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The family of a 34-year-old man who died of an overdose over the weekend while in custody at Metro Corrections says he got the drugs that killed him inside the jail.

Now the family of Richard Graham is demanding accountability from city leaders.

Richard Graham's mother, Monica, and other family members were joined by members of the the American Civil Liberty Union for a news briefing Thursday morning.

They called for further change within Louisville Metro Corrections. Specifically, they want city leaders to closely examine the healthcare provided to inmates at the jail, and to stop treating the jail as a hospital or mental health facility.

Holding a picture of her son, Monica Graham said she knows her son wasn't perfect -- but he didn't deserve to die. However, she said he was also a welder and loving son, father and brother whose life was cut tragically short on the morning of May 19.

That's when Metro Corrections spokesman Maj. Jason Logdson said officials said an alarm sounded around 3:30 a.m. after a box containing Narcan was opened. Jail officers found Graham unresponsive, and EMS was unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead just before 4:15 a.m. from "a suspected overdose."

Already on home incarceration, Graham had been booked into the jail a day earlier on new charges, including possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and drug charges. Monica Graham said the last time she spoke to her son was just after he was taken into custody, and she promised she would meet him at arraignment court.

Richard Graham didn't make it to court, and now his mother wants to know the circumstances that led to his death.

"I just want them to explain to me how it happened, how was he able to get it, and somebody needs to talk to us and let us know.

An internal investigation is underway.

"Loss of life is tragic and something that we never want to see happen," Metro Corrections Director Jerry Collins said in a written statement. "The staff at Metro Corrections are going to keep working every day to combat contraband entering our facility, as well as find new innovative ways to assist our population with substance use disorder."

Jail officials have not yet responded to our request for an update on the investigation into Graham's death, or whether or not they can verify Monica Graham's statement that her son obtained illicit substances while he was in jail.

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