Three Tennessee Corrections Officers Indicted After Inmate Died

CHATTANOOGA – (TBI) — An investigation by Special Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in the indictment of three former Bradley County corrections officers on charges of official misconduct.

At the request of 10th District Attorney General Steve Crump, on September 18th, TBI Special Agents began investigating the in-custody death of inmate Ralph Nelms at the Bradley County Jail. The investigation revealed that at the time of his death, Nelms had been placed on suicide watch, which required correctional staff to conduct and document periodic cell checks.

During the course of the investigation, Agents developed information that indicated the required cell checks were not conducted as reported, and that jail logs were falsified to show that they were. The investigation revealed that now-former Corrections Officers Gabriel Nathaniel Black, Ronald Joshua Reddish and Timothy Jason Boyd were the individuals responsible for conducting those cell checks.

On Wednesday, the Bradley County Grand Jury returned indictments charging (below, left to right) Black, 22, with one count each of Official Misconduct, Tampering with Evidence and Tampering with Governmental Records, Reddish, 34, with one count of Official Misconduct and Boyd, 35, with one count of Official Misconduct. All three turned themselves in to TBI Agents this morning. Each was booked into the Bradley County Jail on a $15,000 bond.

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