Records Show: Handcuffed inmate dies in Cook County jail after being beaten by guards

This story was produced by Injustice Watch, a nonprofit newsroom in Chicago that examines issues of equality and justice in the Cook County justice system. Sign up for their weekly newsletter here.

CHICAGO — Documents show a man died Friday at Cook County Jail following a confrontation with prison guards during which he was beaten, thrown to the ground and injected with a sedative.

Cory Ulmer, 41, was described in an internal incident report by the sergeant in charge of the incident as “belligerent” and disobedient to officers’ commands. The report says Ulmer at one point managed to “stomach” the sergeant.

Ulmer’s attorney said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had a history of manic episodes. Ulmer was handcuffed with his hands in front of his body and was sedated by a prison nurse moments before his death, according to the report.

Investigators with Tom Dart’s Cook County Sheriff’s Office went to Ulmer’s stepfather’s home to inform his family of his death, but provided no details.

“They said they locked him up and he went to the hospital, but unfortunately he didn’t make it. That’s all he told me,” said Robert Robinson.

A two-year-old state law requires Dart’s office to notify the families of people who die under its care “as soon as practicable in an appropriate manner, giving an accurate factual description of the cause of death and the circumstances surrounding the death.”

A spokesman for Dart, contacted by Injustice Watch on Monday – two days before the sergeant’s report was received – said Ulmer “suffered a medical emergency” and was later pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

In an email Thursday, a Dart spokesman again declined to provide details about Ulmer’s death, citing the ongoing investigation, but confirmed that 11 jail employees had been transferred pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Nothing in our initial response was inaccurate,” a Dart spokesman said.

“Mr. Ulmer died following a medical emergency.”

Dart declined an interview request.

Jesse Guth, an attorney and former district attorney employed by Ulmer’s family, said Ulmer’s family is “shocked and outraged” by his death.

“Cory’s family and the people of Cook County deserve nothing less than the full truth,” Guth said. “He was a son, a brother, a nephew and a cousin. He deserves to be more than just a statistic. He deserves justice.”

Ulmer’s death, the first in prison this year, came two weeks after Injustice Watch published “Dying on Dart’s Watch,” a year-long investigation into the supervisory failures that led to at least half of the 18 deaths in prison last year — the most since 2013.

Ulmer was booked into jail last Thursday after violating the terms of his pretrial release. Prosecutors charged him with aggravated assault and robbery in January 2023, and he was released on electronic monitoring after pleading not guilty. Ulmer allegedly refused to return to his approved placement, which resulted in his return to prison, according to Dart’s spokesman.

Ulmer’s attorney in the case told Injustice Watch that Ulmer had a bipolar episode at a bus stop and was carrying a pocket knife. “He was a nice guy in a difficult situation, and I felt for him,” said attorney Jonathan S. Goldman.

Robinson said he last spoke to his stepson last Wednesday, the day before he returned to prison.

“Listen, when I talked to him, everything was fine,” Robinson said. “He was in his apartment and he was talking to me about, you know, just life and that he wanted to get away from that monitor so he could go out and look for a job.

“He wasn’t delusional or anything. I don’t know what happened.”

Report details Battery before Ulmer’s death

The document obtained by Injustice Watch is an incident report written by Sgt. Enrique Reyes, a 13-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, is the document.

Reyes declined to comment when contacted by phone.

According to Reyes’ report, Ulmer – described in court documents as 6-foot-2, 220 pounds – first became violent shortly after 3 p.m. in his cell while awaiting transfer to the prison’s mental health wing.

Ulmer was handcuffed with his hands in front of him when he suddenly ran out of the cell, knocking down the officer, according to the report.

“Staff conducted an emergency intervention on IIC Ulmer, who failed to comply with verbal commands to stand,” Reyes wrote. “Ulmer refused to comply with my verbal commands to stand and would not allow us to help him to his feet, which made escorting (Ulmer) to his feet difficult due to his size and weight.”

Reyes wrote that he and several other officers had to “adjust their position multiple times” to escort Ulmer to the emergency room, at one point “using 4-point support but were unable to completely lift” Ulmer off the ground.

In the emergency room, Reyes wrote, Ulmer became combative again, headbutting Reyes, knocking the camera off his chest and trying to bite his arm.

The report said Reyes radioed for help and officers “began using punches and pressure points to obtain compliance,” but Ulmer “remained combative.” A jail nurse then arrived and injected Ulmer with a sedative in his buttocks, then began checking his vitals after officers secured him in a transport chair. The nurse was “unable to obtain vital signs,” according to the report.

In April, an Associated Press investigation found that since 2012, dozens of people have died across the country after being injected with sedatives during arrests by law enforcement officers. Experts told the AP that such injections given under stressful conditions could contribute to cardiac arrest.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet determined Ulmer’s cause of death.

The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Team has opened an investigation into Ulmer’s death.

Records show that Reyes was under investigation for an allegation of use of force in 2021, but internal investigators determined there was insufficient evidence to sustain the complaint.

Ulmer was the first person to die at the prison since Christmas, when 33-year-old Michael O’Connor was found hanging in his cell in the prison’s mental health unit more than an hour after prison guards last saw him alive, breaking a state law that requires guards to conduct security checks every 30 minutes.

A spokesman for Dart told news outlets at the time that foul play was not suspected in O’Connor’s death the day after his death.

David Jackson contributed to this report.