Mother says her son needs new jail
With her son suffering from brain damage reportedly inflicted while he was an inmate in another county, the mother of a Warren County Jail inmate wants her son moved to a facility which can better care for him.
“He’s my son and I love him, but I know if he gets out he’ll just get in trouble again,” said Amanda King, mother of local inmate Robby Kilgore. “I’m not asking them to let him go free. What I’m asking is that they put him in a place where he can be treated and cared for given his condition.”
Kilgore is serving an 11-month, 29-day sentence in Warren County Jail for violation of probation. He was recently violated for a failed drug test and ordered to serve his entire sentence at the local jail.
King said she is concerned because medical experts have told her that her son is dying from the injuries he sustained when he was attacked by other inmates while incarcerated in the Marion County Jail in 2001. He was jailed there after he was convicted of stealing a vehicle.
King, showing scans of Kilgore’s brain, said her son suffered numerous blows to the head, causing permanent damage to his brain. Kilgore is suing Marion County for the attack and his case is pending.
King said the numerous injuries to her son’s brain were revealed during imaging conducted in preparation for his suit against Marion County. Along with the images of the injuries, King said her son, who already had a low IQ before the attack, has exhibited changes in his behavior since the injuries.
In a report compiled by Dr. Robert D. Hunt, the doctor wrote “he has lost considerable spontaneity and ability to converse and is more irritable and has become much more aggressive and explosive.”
King said, given the proper treatment, her son, while not being able to recover from the injuries, could at least have his quality of life improved. King said such treatment and care is not possible at Warren County Jail and has therefore asked for her son to be moved to a special facility. King added she had hoped the court would not accept his guilty plea to the probation violation charges recently due to his limited mental ability.
In response to the concerned mother, Sheriff Jackie Matheny said it is out of his hands as to whether Kilgore is put into treatment or a special needs facility.
“That’s something that’s up to the state,” Matheny said. “We can’t dictate where they go and we sure can’t just release them.”
For now, Kilgore is being housed away from the general population in one of the smaller cells. Matheny noted he would be open to Kilgore going to a special-needs facility. However, he noted such a transfer is not likely since the state has limited bed space when it comes to such facilities.