Records show a man died at the Cook County Jail last Friday following a confrontation with corrections officers during which he was beaten, body-slammed and injected with sedatives.

Cory Ulmer, 41, was described in an internal report by the sergeant in charge of the incident as “combative” and disobedient to guards’ commands. The report states that at one point Ulmer managed to “step on” the sergeant.

Ulmer’s attorney said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had a history of manic episodes. Ulmer was handcuffed with his hands in front of his body and was sedated by a prison nurse moments before he died, according to the report.

Investigators from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office went to Ulmer’s stepfather’s home to inform his family of his death, but gave them no details.

“They said he was locked up and he went to hospital, but unfortunately he didn’t survive. That’s all he told me,” Robert Robinson said.

A two-year-old state law requires Dart’s office to notify the families of people who die under its care “as soon as practicable in an appropriate manner, giving an accurate factual description of the cause of death and the circumstances surrounding the death.”

A spokesman for Dart, contacted by Injustice Watch on Monday – two days before the sergeant’s report was received – said Ulmer “suffered a medical emergency” and was later pronounced dead at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

In an email Thursday, a Dart spokesman again declined to provide details about Ulmer’s death, citing the ongoing investigation, but confirmed that 11 jail employees had been transferred pending the outcome of the investigation.

“None of our initial response was inaccurate,” a Dart spokesman said.

“Mr. Ulmer died as a result of a medical emergency.

Dart declined a request for an interview.

Jesse Guth, an attorney and former district attorney employed by Ulmer’s family, said Ulmer’s family is “shocked and outraged” by his death.

“Cory’s family and the people of Cook County deserve nothing less than the full truth,” Guth said. “He was a son, a brother, a nephew and a cousin. He deserves to be more than just a statistic. He deserves justice.”

Ulmer’s death, the first in prison this year, came two weeks after Injustice Watch released “Dying on Dart’s Watch” — a year-long investigation into supervision failures that led to at least half of the 18 deaths in prison last year — the most since 2013.

Ulmer was booked into jail last Thursday after violating the terms of his pretrial release. Prosecutors charged him with aggravated assault and robbery in January 2023, and he was released on electronic monitoring after pleading not guilty. Ulmer allegedly refused to return to his approved placement, which resulted in his return to prison, according to Dart’s spokesman.

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Ulmer’s attorney handling the case told Injustice Watch that Ulmer had a bipolar episode at a bus stop and was wielding a pocket knife. “He was a nice guy in a difficult situation, and I felt for him,” said attorney Jonathan S. Goldman.

Robinson said he last spoke to his stepson last Wednesday, the day before he was returned to prison.

“Listen, he was fine when I talked to him,” Robinson said. “He was in his apartment and he was talking to me about, you know, just life and that he wanted to get off this monitor so he could go out and look for a job.

“He wasn’t delusional or anything. I don’t know what happened.”

Report details of beating before Ulmer’s death

The document obtained by Injustice Watch is an incident report written by Corrections Sergeant Enrique Reyes, a 13-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, the documents show.

Reached by phone, Reyes declined to comment.

According to Reyes’ report, Ulmer – described in court documents as a 5-foot-9 man and weighing 99 kilograms – first became violent just after 3 p.m. in his cell while awaiting transfer to the prison’s mental health unit.

According to the report, Ulmer was handcuffed with his hands in front of him when he suddenly ran out of the cell, knocking down the officer.

“Staff conducted an emergency intervention on IIC Ulmer, who failed to comply with verbal commands to stand,” Reyes wrote. “Ulmer refused to comply with my verbal commands to stand and would not allow us to help him to his feet, which made escorting (Ulmer) to his feet difficult due to his size and weight.”

Reyes wrote that he and several other officers had to “adjust their position multiple times” to escort Ulmer to the emergency room, at one point “utilizing a four-point support but were unable to completely lift” Ulmer off the ground.

Reyes wrote that once Ulmer was in the emergency room, he became aggressive again – he headbutted Reyes, knocked the camera off his chest and tried to bite him on the arm.

The report said Reyes radioed for help, and officers “began using strikes and pressure points to gain compliance,” but Ulmer “remained combative.” A corrections nurse then arrived and injected Ulmer with a sedative into his buttocks, then began checking his vital signs after officers secured him in a transport chair. The nurse “was unable to obtain vital signs,” according to the report.

In April, an Associated Press investigation found that since 2012, dozens of people across the country have died after being injected with sedatives during law enforcement arrests. Experts told the AP that such injections given under stressful conditions could contribute to cardiac arrest.

The Cook County Coroner’s Office has not yet determined Ulmer’s cause of death.

The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force has launched an investigation into Ulmer’s death.

According to the documents, Reyes was investigated in 2021 for allegations of excessive force, but internal investigators ruled that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the complaint.

Ulmer was the first person to die at the prison since Christmas, when 33-year-old Michael O’Connor was found hanging in his cell in the prison’s mental health unit more than an hour after prison guards last saw him alive, breaking a state law that requires guards to conduct security checks every 30 minutes.

A Dart spokesman told news outlets at the time that there was no suspicion of foul play in O’Connor’s death the day after he died.

David Jackson contributed to this report.