By Rich Lord and Molly Born
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — In the wake of the deaths of two Allegheny County Jail inmates in one day, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced today that he will not renew the contract with jail infirmary manager Corizon, allowing it to expire at the end of August.
He said the county would bring jail health care in house.
The move follows the deaths Thursday, one at the lockup and the other at a hospital.
Autopsies are scheduled today for Timothy Leininger, 27, who was pronounced dead at 3:47 p.m. at UPMC Mercy, and Monty Crawford, 23, who died at the jail at 8:20 p.m., according to the county medical examiner’s office.
Mr. Leininger, of Bellevue, was arrested Jan. 9 by University of Pittsburgh police and charged with terroristic threats.
On the date of arrest, David Yankura, a psychiatrist at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, asked Pitt police Officer Mallory Skrbin “about what would happen if an individual was charged with terroristic threats,” she wrote in a criminal complaint.
Dr. Yankura and a “community treatment team” worker told the officer that Mr. Leininger was brought to Western Psych that day for an evaluation and became “agitated” while speaking with the worker, the complaint says.
The worker reported that Mr. Leininger told him “I ain’t going to no [expletive] shelter. I’m gonna stab Becky, and I’m gonna smash you.” When the worker told Mr. Leininger to calm down, he “jumped up from the couch clenched his fists and arms, stepped towards” the worker and said, “I’m gonna to smash you,” the complaint continued.
Officer Skrbin wrote that she told the psychiatrist she could charge Mr. Leininger with terroristic threats via summons.
According to the complaint, Dr. Yankura later told police that Mr. Leininger needed to be incarcerated.
Mr. Leininger was taken to the Allegheny County Jail, and failed to make bail set at $10,000.
Court records show that Mr. Leininger was evaluated by a psychiatrist a month after the arrest. She cleared him with recommendations, including that he comply with a treatment plan, live with this mother and remain sober. However, he remained in jail, awaiting a trial eventually set for July 14.
Online court records indicate no prior criminal history.
Mr. Crawford, of Carrick, was arrested in December 2013, when a 13-year-old girl accused him of repeatedly, over five years, pushing her into a variety of sex acts.
He was charged with rape of a child and nine other, related charges.
In May 2014, the county Behavioral Assessment Unit deemed him incompetent to stand trial, “and not likely to regain competence,” according to his court file. An October follow-up report indicated that he “would benefit from education in the legal process.”
By March, the unit found that he regained competency following a “lengthy stay” at an inpatient facility. His trial was set for July 13.
The deaths are the third and fourth of an Allegheny County Jail inmate this year, following those of 49-year-old Timothy Melvin Haskell, of West View, in April, and Frank Smart, 39, of the Hill District, in January.
Tennessee-based Corizon Health took over the infirmary Sept. 1, 2013, and last year saw seven inmate deaths — a mortality rate double the national norms for jails.
County Manager William D. McKain and members of the Jail Oversight Board have said they are in discussions with area institutions that could help address health care at the lockup, but they have provided no details.