Cook County Jail detainee died from aggressive restraint, withheld medical care, lawsuit alleges
Cory Ulmer, who was being held at the Cook County Jail last year, died shortly after correctional officers struck him several times and threw him to the ground, records show.
Now, Ulmer’s stepfather, Robert Robinson, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the Cook County sheriff, more than a dozen correctional officers and the jail’s medical personnel were all complicit in Ulmer’s death.
Ulmer, 41, was jailed last June for violating the terms of his pretrial release. Prosecutors had charged him with aggravated assault and armed robbery in 2023. He was released on electronic monitoring ahead of his trial after pleading not guilty.
The lawsuit states that Ulmer was detained for roughly 36 hours in a holding cell without a bed, toilet or sink. It also alleges that during that time, Ulmer was periodically restrained with handcuffs, leg shackles or a combination of both, which “posed a serious risk of physical harm, especially for a diabetic.”
“The restraints on Ulmer were so tight as to cause injury and impair normal blood flow, causing pain, swelling, bruising, lacerations, and circulatory compromise in his extremities,” the suit states.
During his detainment, Ulmer was not administered any of his prescribed psychotropic medication and was only given one dose of his diabetes medication, an attorney claimed, although his health history was known to the medical personnel at the jail, including earlier diagnoses of bipolar disorder and paranoia.
The suit also details two incidents where corrections officers allegedly used “excessive force” to restrain Ulmer.
In one incident, three officers used force on Ulmer that led him to fall to the ground and strike his head on a metal pole outside his cell, according to the suit.
The second use-of-force incident occurred approximately eight hours later and included several correctional officers allegedly dragging Ulmer out of view of surveillance cameras and beating him while Ulmer was restrained with handcuffs and leg shackles.
An internal report by the sergeant in charge during the incident described Ulmer as “combative” and disobeying his jailer's orders.
Following the beating, Ulmer was injected with sedatives and placed into a restraint chair. After he was discovered to be nonresponsive, he was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the lawsuit.
The medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide.
A spokesperson for the Cook County sheriff’s office said that the staff members involved in the incident have been temporarily reassigned to administrative roles pending the outcomes of the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force’s independent investigation, which was recently completed.
“The office takes very seriously the health and safety of all staff members and individuals in custody and aggressively investigates every incident involving the use of force,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the office is now conducting its internal administrative investigation to determine if the involved staff members violated any policies of the Sheriff’s Office and whether any disciplinary action should be taken.
Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ. You can reach her at asavchenko@wbez.org.