An amended civil rights complaint has been filed on behalf of a Blair County Corrections officer who was killed in the line of duty while guarding inmates at the Blair County Central Court building on the afternoon of Nov. 17, 2021.

This will be the third amended complaint filed by Pittsburgh attorney Robert A. Bracken due to the death of 47-year-old Rhonda J. Russell, who was shot by a city police officer during a confrontation with Christopher Aikens, 58, an inmate who, according to the most recent filing, was desperate to escape from custody.

Aikens was able to obtain Russell’s service weapon during a struggle in the Central Court cellblock, and, while using Russell as a shield, is alleged to have threatened Altoona Police Sgt. George E. Bistline, who responded to the disturbance.

Bistline, a police officer for 40 years, fired one shot in response. It struck and killed Russell.

The updated lawsuit filed in the federal District Court in Johnstown claimed that Aikens was in court for a preliminary hearing on charges of prohibited possession of a firearm, altering identification marks on a firearm, forgery and drug-related offenses.

He had already spent more than 20 years of his life behind bars and, the Russell lawsuit contends, he was facing yet another protracted term behind bars.

In the days just prior to his scheduled preliminary hearing, Aikens, the lawsuit stated, attempted to dig his way through a wall in the Blair County Prison’s J-Block.

Yet, despite his actions, prison officials did not note the incident or inform Russell and another officer of Aikens’ desperation prior to their transporting him and seven other inmates to Central Court.

The Russell complaint names prison warden Abbie Tate and five prison officials as defendants.

It also names Blair County Sheriff James Ott and a deputy sheriff and the estate of Officer Bistline — who died shortly after the shooting — as defendants.

When Aikens attempted his escape, Russell was alone in the cellblock while her colleague and other sheriff’s deputies were busy with other inmates — thus “abandoning” Russell — according to the new complaint.

Blair County and the City of Altoona round out the list of defendants.

The lawsuit is highly critical of the security precautions that were in place at the prison and at Central Court when the Russell tragedy occurred.

“These defendants knew of the magnitude of the problems and the risks posed, yet deliberately chose not to train (the employees); instead these defendants acquiesced in the inappropriate policies, practices or customs set forth throughout the Complaint.

“The failures to train identified throughout the Complaint are closely related to and proximate causes of the harm suffered by Officer Russell,” the lawsuit concluded.

Although the initial complaint was filed on Aug. 30, 2022, its progress through the court system has experienced repeated delays.

In April 2024, District Judge Kim R. Gibson granted motions to dismiss the civil charges against the main parties, but the judge gave the Russell estate a month to file an amended complaint.

The amended complaint was filed in early May 2024.

The warden and corrections officer, the sheriff and his named deputy and the Bistline estate all filed motions to dismiss the amended lawsuit, but Gibson was no longer on the bench, and in April of this year, the pretrial stage of the case was transferred to Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly in Pittsburgh.

On April 29, 2025, Kelly issued an order that a new amended complaint be filed by May 9.

The defendants are under order to file new motions to dismiss by June 6.

The Russell estate will have until July 17 to prepare objections to the motions to dismiss.

Russell is survived by three children, the father of her children, her parents, two brothers and her fiance.

She served 16 years as a corrections officer.

Aikens entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and is serving a life term in prison.

He is presently incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution, Camp Hill.