3 Bradley County Corrections Officers Indicted After Inmate Died

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations have charged Ronald Joshua Reddish, 34, Gabriel Nathaniel Black, 22, and Timothy Jason Boyd, 35, who are former Bradley County Sheriff’s Office Correctional employees, with official misconduct. Black has also been charged with tampering with evidence, and destruction of and tampering with government records. All charges are indictments handed down from the Bradley County Grand Jury, and a $15,000 appearance bond has been set by the court. These charges stem from a criminal investigation that was initiated after an inmate’s death in September.

At the request of 10^th District Attorney General Steve Crump, on Sept. 18, 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 the three officers were the individuals responsible for conducting those cell checks.

Ronald Reddish and Gabriel Black were both terminated, and Timothy Boyd resigned. These events all happened in the month of October.

The offices of the 10^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigations should be contacted for any further inquiries regarding the criminal investigation.

Chief Deputy Brian Smith said, "I want to commend the great leadership of Correctional Captain Gabe Thomas who took swift action by contacting me when discovering the circumstances surrounding the investigated incident. Directly after my conversation with Capt. Thomas, I immediately contacted General Steve Crump at the 10^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office which resulted in the criminal investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.

"The internal affairs investigation is still pending by our Criminal Investigations Division which is separate and parallel from the criminal investigation conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.

"These individuals have a constitutional right to have a presumption of innocence until proven guilty in the court of the law for any alleged criminal wrongdoing, so this department will refrain from making any other comments until their criminal cases are adjudicated.”

Click here to read the statement from District Attorney General Stephen Crump.