ST. LOUIS — Inmates in the downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ jail say they are not getting regular meals and are not receiving access to showers or phones in an escalation of existing issues after a hostage incident involving a guard on Tuesday.
The city’s chief public defender, Matthew Mahaffey, said several inmates told their lawyers this week they haven’t seen full meals — or food at all — in the days since two inmates took a guard hostage for more than two hours. Mahaffey said one of the inmates said they have not been able to shower and that detainees are not being taken to scheduled detention hearings.
Five inmates were involved in the hostage situation, which began around 6 a.m. Tuesday while breakfast was being served. The 70-year-old guard was eventually removed from the jail by the city police department’s SWAT team, and city officials said he was treated for minor injuries.
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The City Justice Center, where suspects are held before trial, has long faced criticism over inmate conditions, including from a civilian oversight board that says it’s being blocked from the access that’s needed to provide real oversight. The jail saw several inmate uprisings in 2021 related to what inmates called “inhumane conditions†at the facility.
On Tuesday, Mahaffey said one client reported they had not had a full meal since Tuesday, and another said they had not had food of any kind for 24 hours. Another inmate told their attorney it had been a week since their last shower.
Those incidents are not unusual, Mahaffey said, but the hostage situation has caused an “exacerbation†of them.
“We’ve consistently had complaints of the lack of shower and hygiene opportunities — lack of food, too, though not as consistent with those of shower and hygiene,†Mahaffey said.
The Rev. Darryl Gray, civil rights activist and chairman of the jail oversight board echoed Mahaffey’s complaints. Gray previously addressed the Board of Alderman’s Public Safety Committee over similar accusations, and he’s now calling on Charles Coyle, the city’s interim director of public safety, to investigate the jail.
“We’re talking about the safety and health of human beings,†Gray said. “This is not an incident we are going to sweep under the rug through process and procedure. People’s lives are at risk right now. This has got to be a priority for Director Coyle.â€
Christy Hamilton, the mother of a man in the jail, said she has not spoken to her son since Monday night. When she called the jail Thursday morning, she said she was told the facility was still on lockdown and inmates could not yet receive or make calls.
“I’m extremely frustrated,†Hamilton said while waiting for her son’s hearing Thursday afternoon at the Carnahan Courthouse. “That’s just how the jail is.â€
Hamilton’s son, James McGregory, was initially scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday. After the hostage situation, that hearing was moved back to Wednesday, then it was moved back again to Thursday.
“Nobody knew anything,†Hamilton said. “There’s been no communication.â€
The Post-Dispatch contacted the city’s Department of Public Safety, police department, jail commissioner and mayor about inmates saying they weren’t receiving food or showers, plus a separate attack on an inmate today.
In a statement, Nicole Franklin, with the Department of Public Safety, said the detainees are receiving three meals a day and now showering in small groups “at a more limited pace to best protect the safety of detainees and correctional officers.â€
The jail oversight board scheduled a special meeting for Monday to discuss the hostage situation, a recent death at the jail, and conditions at the facility. The board said Coyle told them he couldn’t attend the meeting because of a scheduling conflict.