OKLAHOMA COUNTY JAIL ISSUES: Attorney for 16-year-old murder defendant calls Oklahoma County jail conditions 'subhuman'

A lawyer for a 16-year-old first-degree murder defendant called the conditions at the Oklahoma County Detention Center "subhuman" and "deplorable."The comments were made during a hearing Wednesday where a judge ordered the jail to move the juvenile murder defendant out in the wake of a report from the Oklahoma State Department of Health that found dozens of violations and said the jail needed to move out all juvenile inmates.The county, however, originally said the ban on holding juvenile defendants didn't apply to juveniles charged with first-degree murder. On Wednesday, a judge disagreed."These are still children. They're still deserving of protection," attorney Tommy Adler said while arguing his 16-year-old client needed to be moved out of the Oklahoma County Detention Center immediately.Judge Amy Palumbo agreed and signed the transfer order.The Oklahoma County Jail Trust said it was already finalizing a plan to move the dozen or so juveniles charged with first-degree murder, but there's no exact timeline yet.Adler said this was an emergency."Unfortunately, the Oklahoma County jail has a long history of death, serious injury, assault, malnutrition, incredibly unsanitary health conditions," he said. "It's a horrible place. Absolutely no place to hold a child."The state health department recently banned the jail from holding children after it found many violations during an unannounced visit. The county originally believed the law said that didn't apply to first-degree murder suspects, but that appears to be changing.In the meantime, Adler is glad his client is moving."I mean, he's innocent unless proven guilty," Adler said. "He needs to be housed in a humane way fit for a juvenile."Jail Trust officials told KOCO 5 they're still in the final planning stages of moving all juvenile defendants. It's unclear how long it will take or where they will go.

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