Malcolm James Died in a Wisconsin Jail b/c Police Bent Him Over While He Was Restrained to a Chair, He Told Cops He Couldn’t Breathe. A $20M Suit Demands Justice After White DA Failed to Charge Cops

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From [HERE] “I can’t breathe.” Those were Malcolm James’s final words on June 1, 2021, as Racine County Jail officers pinned him into a restraint chair. Minutes later, the 27-year-old was dead.

Four years later, his case centers on a $20 million federal wrongful death lawsuit filed by his mother, Sherry James. The complaint accuses Racine County deputies, Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, and jail medical staff of using excessive force and ignoring urgent medical needs. At stake is whether a jail reliant on non-sworn officers and private medical contractors can keep people in psychiatric crisis safe — and how a homicide ruling produced no charges, no discipline, and no reforms.

“I lost my eldest son, and he was a good kid. Nobody deserves that,” James said.

Attorney Kevin O’Connor, representing the family, added: “No one was disciplined. No one was retrained. The question is: how does that happen?”

Malcolm James’ final minutes

On June 1, 2021, correction officers strapped James into a restraint chair. According to federal court exhibits, officers pepper-sprayed and tased him before restraining him.

As he cried out, “I can’t breathe” for just over three minutes, several members of the jail’s Correctional Emergency Response Team (CERT) in full gear pressed down on his back and shoulders, folding him forward in the chair and layering their weight on top of him while others struggled to remove the Taser probes.

Officers fumbled for several minutes before retrieving the proper removal tool. At least one officer suggested calling paramedics to handle the probes; a supervisor directed them to keep trying, according to the civil complaint. James remained bent forward under their weight until he went limp.

When Nurse Crystal Kristiansen arrived, she reached for smelling salts and a pulse oximeter. Still, she did not attempt CPR and admitted she didn’t know where the automated external defibrillator (AED) was stored. Paramedics were called, but James had no pulse when they arrived. He was pronounced dead soon after.

Four days earlier, James had called 911 in crisis, saying he was suicidal. Police discovered he had set fire to his clothes and apartment. He was first taken to Ascension Hospital–Racine for evaluation, but was released within hours and booked into jail on arson charges. Correction officers later returned him to Ascension two more times. Still, he was discharged each time with only instructions not to harm himself, according to Lt. Michael Luell’s deposition and court filings.

The lawsuit

In August 2021, Sherry James filed a claim against Racine County seeking $20 million in damages. That claim became the basis for the federal wrongful death lawsuit filed in March 2022.

The lawsuit alleges systemic failures, including:

  • Excessive force during restraint.

  • Failure to provide urgent medical care, despite signs of distress.

  • Inadequate training on positional asphyxia and crisis response.

  • Negligent medical care by MEnD Correctional Care, which at the time served as the jail’s for-profit provider.

“The problem isn’t just those final minutes,” O’Connor said. “It’s culture, training, outsourcing — all of it added up to Malcolm’s death.”

Official explanations

  • The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner ruled James’s death a homicide by asphyxia, according to the autopsy.

  • Sheriff Christopher Schmaling [white person], in a June 2021 recorded statement, urged patience and released a video showing James striking his head against a wall. He said the video demonstrated James “intentionally harmed himself.” Lt. Michael Luell later clarified that Schmaling never said James “killed himself” and that the release was meant to counter misinformation. But to the family, the release shifted attention away from officers’ actions in the restraint chair — the focus of the lawsuit.

  • District Attorney Patricia Hanson [white person] declined charges after consulting outside experts. Dr. Tom S. Neuman concluded sudden cardiac death was likely, citing James’s enlarged heart and fibrosis in his expert report. Hanson wrote that the evidence and outside experts did not support charges. The lawsuit, however, argues that Hanson relied on hired experts to sidestep the medical examiner’s homicide ruling, leaving a death with no accountability. [MORE]