Inmate files civil rights lawsuit over prison attack

McKee severely injured in beating by other inmates

A Blair County Prison inmate who suffered severe facial injuries when attacked by other inmates during a dispute which occurred two years ago has filed a civil rights petition against Blair County, the prison warden and a former corrections officer.

The inmate, Troy McKee, 41, of Altoona, is seeking money damages for his medical expenses and for the pain and emotional distress that he experienced when he was attacked on Sept. 15, 2022, by four inmates.

The attack allegedly stemmed from a dispute over items in what he called an "underground commissary" operated in the prison.

The commissary sold personal hygiene items, beverages, "and potentially illicit goods such as cigarettes or unauthorized food items ...," he explained in a federal lawsuit filed on his behalf by attorneys David R. Thompson and Brian D. Jones of Philipsburg.

The items in the inmate-operated commissary were in addition to those goods sold through the prison commissary.

McKee's cellmate allegedly purchased the rights to the underground commissary from an inmate who was being transferred from the county prison to a state correctional facility.

Another inmate, Richard Allen Ewing, confronted McKee's cellmate because he wanted an acquaintance of his, John Allen Jukes Jr., to operate the enterprise.

An argument began between Ewing and McKee's cellmate "between cell bars."

McKee physically pulled his cellmate back to avoid a physical confrontation between the two.

A corrections officer on duty that night, Eric Williams Dostal Jr., was summoned by Ewing and Jukes.

McKee's lawsuit stated that Dostal "at the time was drinking 'prison hooch'" with the inmates who asked him to open the door of the cell occupied by McKee and his cellmate.

It is alleged that Dostal opened the door three times.

On the third occasion, Jukes, Ewing and other inmates entered the cell and assaulted McKee, causing facial fractures, a broken jaw, loss of teeth and broken orbital bones.

McKee, unconscious after the fray, was placed in a corner of the cell.

When he awoke, Dostal told him, "You couldn't wait until shift change to fall off your bunk?"

Another unnamed officer, who helped transport McKee to the prison nurses station for treatment, told him to say he had fallen off his bunk.

He stated in his lawsuit that he was threatened with solitary confinement if he reported what had really occurred.

Once at the nurses station, McKee reported, he began to have seizures and that his heart stopped.

His lawsuit stated he was revived by nurse Brittany Johnson through the use of a defibrillator.

Hollidaysburg police were summoned and McKee said an officer told him, "We'll get you out of here."

He then underwent surgery and after spending five days in the hospital, he was sent back to the county prison.

McKee was a pretrial detainee awaiting disposition of drug-related offenses.

He reported that he was released on bail, and that his criminal charges are still pending.

Meanwhile, Dostal resigned after four years on the job and he eventually entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault.

Dostal was sentenced to a period of 10 years' probation, and the sentencing judge, Jolene G. Kopriva, indicated he could seek early termination of probation after five years.

The inmates who attacked McKee each received lengthy prison sentences, the McKee lawsuit stated: Ewing, 10 to 20 years behind bars; Jukes, 18.5 to 37 years; Delano Anthony Brown, 15 to 30 years; and Korey Cortez Sitton, nine to 18 years.

The lawsuit contends that Dostal, Warden Abbie Tate and, as yet, other unnamed officers violated McKee's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to be protected from other inmates.

Tate, it is charged, also violated McKee's rights by failing to provide "responsible oversight" of corrections officers.

The warden, it is stated, had "knowledge of the widespread misconduct by correctional officers," but failed to take disciplinary action.

The lawsuit also charges Blair County with "deliberate indifference" to the constitutional rights of inmates, known as a "Monell Claim."

The McKee lawsuit was filed in the federal District Court in Johnstown and has been assigned for review by Magistrate Judge Patricia Dodge in Pittsburgh.

State court records show that McKee is awaiting an appearance in the Blair County Plea Court for disposition of his 2022 drug-related charges.

While McKee was released in 2022 from Blair County Prison, he has recently been charged with the aggravated assault of an ex-girlfriend for an incident which occurred on May 12.

In addition to aggravated assault, he also faces additional counts of possessing an instrument of crime, possession of a weapon, criminal mischief, possession of drug paraphernalia and burglary.

He was initially placed back in Blair County Prison in lieu of $200,000 bail.

McKee then was transferred to the Cambria County Prison while awaiting arraignment on his most recent charges.