Two Died in the County Jail. One Building Sits Empty. | CLT Daily

Description

Todd Williams was 59. Domonique Chisholm was 33. Both died in the Mecklenburg County jail within a week, and the State Bureau of Investigation is looking into both. On Friday, Sheriff Garry McFadden gave his explanation — overcrowding, a health care crisis, and drugs getting into the building. Two of those describe what arrives with the person. The third is a number this county controls: a jail built for 1,700 holding more than 2,000, while a second county facility sits closed over an unresolved argument about who should be housed there. Plus: Luke Kuechly's Hall of Fame speech, and Charlotte Pride takes uptown next weekend.

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WBTV, WSOC, WFAE, QC News, Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Pride.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Quick thing first, one of the biggest bands in the world plays Uptown tonight, and next weekend, Charlotte hands over its streets entirely, both at the end of the show. But first, this is CLT Daily, I'm Steve Baboulis. It's Sunday, August 9th, your independent daily briefing for the Queen City. Today, two men died in the Mecklenburg County Jail in one week, and the sheriff has now told us why he thinks it happened. Their names were Todd Williams and Dominique Chisholm. Williams was 59. He was found unresponsive in his cell on a Saturday morning after less than a week in custody. Chisholm was 33. He'd been in the detention center since April 20th. He became unresponsive around 11.30 on Wednesday night and was pronounced dead about an hour later. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into both. Neither cause of death has been released. On Friday, Sheriff Gary McFadden gave his explanation. He named three things. overcrowding a health care crisis and drugs getting into the building. Take them one at a time because they are not the same kind of problem. On health care, McFadden said something I think is true and worth repeating. Quote, the detention center should not become the first place where someone receives consistent medical attention after years of neglect. That's an honest description of what county jails have become in this country. People arrive already sick, already untreated, and the jail inherits it. On drugs, he said, contraband keeps getting in despite extensive security and that this is happening in detention centers nationwide. Also true, though a lawsuit filed in 2024 alleged insufficient drug screening of staff contributed to an inmate's overdose death and footage from a 2022 investigation showed staff taking at least 70 minutes to reach a man dying of an overdose. But it's the third one, overcrowding, that I want you to hold on to, because unlike the other two, that number is entirely local. The Mecklenburg County Detention Center was built to hold about 1,700 people. As of May, it held more than 2,000. McFadden's words, overcrowding places, enormous strain on every aspect of detention operations, housing, supervision, medical care, mental health services. Now, here's the part that isn't in most of the coverage. There is a second facility. It's called you Jail North. It is closed, and it has stayed closed because the sheriff and county leaders have not resolved a disagreement about who should be housed there, juveniles or adults. So of the three explanations, two are about what walks through the door. The third is about a building this county already owns, sitting empty, while the main facility runs 300 people over what it was built for. I'm not saying opening Jail North would have saved Todd Williams or Dominique chisholm, nobody can say that. and the causes of death aren't public yet. What I'm saying is that of the three causes the sheriff named, exactly one is fully within local control. And that one has an empty building attached to it and an unresolved argument on top of it. That argument is a decision somebody can make. I'd like to know when. All right, here's what else you need to know today. Luke Kiochly is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted last night in Canton, presented by his father, Tom. Julius Peppers handed him the gold jacket. And the line from his speech that stuck with me wasn't about football at all. Quote, The joy football gave me didn't come from any particular win. It came from competing, from studying, from practicing, and from preparing. And joy came, most importantly, from the people I was with. He thanked his parents for teaching him that a simple smile goes a long way. Eight seasons, all of them here. And Charlotte Pride is next weekend, August 15th and 16th, Uptown, Festival and Parade. It's free to attend, it's been running since 2000, and it's now one of the largest Pride organizations in the American Southeast. We'll have a full preview later this week with Times and The Root. Now, as promised, tonight Mumford and Sons play the Spectrum Center with Medium Build. Charlotte FC hosts Pachuca. on Tuesday at 7.30, going for a third straight win over a Liga MX club. And then next Saturday and Sunday, Uptown belongs to Pride. That's CLT Daily for Sunday, August 9th. I'm Steve Baboulis. We'll be back tomorrow. Same time, same city. Until then, Charlotte, take care of each other.

Description

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WBTV, WSOC, WFAE, QC News, Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Pride.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Quick thing first, one of the biggest bands in the world plays Uptown tonight, and next weekend, Charlotte hands over its streets entirely, both at the end of the show. But first, this is CLT Daily, I'm Steve Baboulis. It's Sunday, August 9th, your independent daily briefing for the Queen City. Today, two men died in the Mecklenburg County Jail in one week, and the sheriff has now told us why he thinks it happened. Their names were Todd Williams and Dominique Chisholm. Williams was 59. He was found unresponsive in his cell on a Saturday morning after less than a week in custody. Chisholm was 33. He'd been in the detention center since April 20th. He became unresponsive around 11.30 on Wednesday night and was pronounced dead about an hour later. The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into both. Neither cause of death has been released. On Friday, Sheriff Gary McFadden gave his explanation. He named three things. overcrowding a health care crisis and drugs getting into the building. Take them one at a time because they are not the same kind of problem. On health care, McFadden said something I think is true and worth repeating. Quote, the detention center should not become the first place where someone receives consistent medical attention after years of neglect. That's an honest description of what county jails have become in this country. People arrive already sick, already untreated, and the jail inherits it. On drugs, he said, contraband keeps getting in despite extensive security and that this is happening in detention centers nationwide. Also true, though a lawsuit filed in 2024 alleged insufficient drug screening of staff contributed to an inmate's overdose death and footage from a 2022 investigation showed staff taking at least 70 minutes to reach a man dying of an overdose. But it's the third one, overcrowding, that I want you to hold on to, because unlike the other two, that number is entirely local. The Mecklenburg County Detention Center was built to hold about 1,700 people. As of May, it held more than 2,000. McFadden's words, overcrowding places, enormous strain on every aspect of detention operations, housing, supervision, medical care, mental health services. Now, here's the part that isn't in most of the coverage. There is a second facility. It's called you Jail North. It is closed, and it has stayed closed because the sheriff and county leaders have not resolved a disagreement about who should be housed there, juveniles or adults. So of the three explanations, two are about what walks through the door. The third is about a building this county already owns, sitting empty, while the main facility runs 300 people over what it was built for. I'm not saying opening Jail North would have saved Todd Williams or Dominique chisholm, nobody can say that. and the causes of death aren't public yet. What I'm saying is that of the three causes the sheriff named, exactly one is fully within local control. And that one has an empty building attached to it and an unresolved argument on top of it. That argument is a decision somebody can make. I'd like to know when. All right, here's what else you need to know today. Luke Kiochly is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted last night in Canton, presented by his father, Tom. Julius Peppers handed him the gold jacket. And the line from his speech that stuck with me wasn't about football at all. Quote, The joy football gave me didn't come from any particular win. It came from competing, from studying, from practicing, and from preparing. And joy came, most importantly, from the people I was with. He thanked his parents for teaching him that a simple smile goes a long way. Eight seasons, all of them here. And Charlotte Pride is next weekend, August 15th and 16th, Uptown, Festival and Parade. It's free to attend, it's been running since 2000, and it's now one of the largest Pride organizations in the American Southeast. We'll have a full preview later this week with Times and The Root. Now, as promised, tonight Mumford and Sons play the Spectrum Center with Medium Build. Charlotte FC hosts Pachuca. on Tuesday at 7.30, going for a third straight win over a Liga MX club. And then next Saturday and Sunday, Uptown belongs to Pride. That's CLT Daily for Sunday, August 9th. I'm Steve Baboulis. We'll be back tomorrow. Same time, same city. Until then, Charlotte, take care of each other.

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