At 10:00pm on 7/27/24 at IDOC’s Joliet Treatment Center, a fire alarm was called in an isolated area of the prison. CTOS Timothy Hines #6243 was the first response into Dorm 1 A – Wing, which was already completely full of smoke. Hines and other staff arrived seeing that cell A-11 holding Jason Stephens was completely “engulfed in flames”. The food port was opened up and a fire extinguisher was used, putting the fire out. Still not opening the cell, Hines ordered Jason to cuff up. There was no response so Hines sprayed pepper spray into the cell through the food port, eradicating any last chance of taking a breath Jason still had. Hines told Jason to cuff up again with no response. Hines could not see into the cell and had no visual confirmation of Jason because of the heavy smoke inside the cell. Hines left the wing because he himself couldn’t breathe, leaving Jason’s cell door closed, with no way for the smoke to clear out. Jason was left inside with no oxygen to breath, leaving the question where were the emergency oxygen masks to be utilized for cell extraction?
The guards came back to the wing “after some time” and went to cell A-2 to where Bobby the only other person held on the wing was located. Bobby was upset, refused cuffing up and was pepper sprayed through the food port. He then put his hands through the food port and cuffed up, and then was escorted in his wheelchair to the day room for medical attention and an eye flush from the pepper spray. Hines told Commander Evry the smoke was too thick for anyone to be inhaling, Jason was still unresponsive with no visual of him in his cell. When the fire department arrived they were able to help remove Jason from his cell and lift him onto a medical gurney to be transported to the ambulance.
At 10:30pm, 30 minutes later from the initial response to the fire, the ambulance driver seated inside the ambulance at the front gate was trying to get Jason to the hospital. The driver exchanged words with Officer Abayomi Obadein #8331. The frustrated ambulance driver says “fuck you” and officer Abayomi Obadein responded “fuck you too”. The ambulance driver responded with ” I will kick your fucking ass”. Which then officer Abayomi Obadein escalated the situation putting Jason in further danger. Officer Abayomi Obadein opens up the ambulance door and says “go ahead”. With concern for the patients safety, firemen on the scene then had to get involved saying “you will have to deal with 5 more of us”, and so instead of getting Jason to the hospital, more prison staff was called to the sallyport of the main gate. Abayomi Obadein #8331 referenced following protocols as the reason he wouldn’t open the gate for the ambulance driver. Which then lead to a longer wait for Jason to be transported to the hospital. If there are protocols to be followed, he broke them while engaging with outside medical staff in a hostile manner, delaying Jason’s time sensitive arrival to the hospital. Opening the door of the ambulance to fight the driver is preventing the driver from performing his job and shows deliberate indifference, violating Jason’s 8th amendment rights by disregarding Jason’s serious medical needs. Besides delaying Jason’s adequate medical access, his actions could have left the driver incapacitated, leaving Jason with no transportation to the hospital all.
Around 10:50pm to 11pm, additional staff including Hines #6243, Brodie #6260 and Binns #12824 arrived at the sallyport of the main gate. Brodie and Hines escorted Obadein away from the front gate. Jason died on 8/10/24 with cause of death still pending. More info coming soon.
Earlier in the day in the B-wing at 5:45pm Latayuss set fire to a toilet paper roll and milk carton in his cell doors food port. CTO Valazques #6725 noticed the fire, opened B-wings door to let the smoke out and took the burning materials outside. Which was the opposite of what happened with Jason, with there being no mention of any attempts to increase any air flow in A-wing during the time Jason was trapped in a burning cell.