Washington County Jail killing, no code red for 3 minutes, records show

George Telford is in prison for life for the Washington County Jail homicide of Jalen Proft. The Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office was asked to look into how Telford was able to kick Proft in the head 28 times.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Wis. - The Washington County sheriff called the homicide of Jalen Proft, 23, a "vicious, unprovoked attack." George Telford, 31, pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide in Proft’s death earlier this month. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Court records say Telford kicked Proft in the head 28 times. Proft later died at the hospital.

George Telford

The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office was asked to look into how this happened. Through a public records request, FOX6 obtained a copy of the investigation. It includes hundreds of pages of reports, interviews and other records.

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There are cameras all around the Washington County Justice Center, which includes the Washington County Jail. Records show there is one spot cameras have a hard time seeing: Cell #1 in D Pod.

In an interview with investigators, one officer described it as "the worst area in the tier for a fight to happen" because "the door (when opened) covers the majority of the left side of the cell where the bunk is."

Jalen Proft

Proft was lying in that bunk when he was attacked on Aug. 17.

The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office investigation used surveillance video to break down the timeline of what happened.

The timeline shows a full 3 minutes passed before officers noticed the fight and called a "code red." Another 2 minutes would pass before it was secure enough for nurses to provide Proft with care.

The reports show it is standard practice to wait for adequate staffing for officers to enter an area during a code red incident.

The nurse who responded told investigators the response was "some of the best teamwork she has observed during a serious incident in her entire nursing career."

In conclusion, the Ozaukee County investigators "found the Washington County Jail's staff response after becoming aware of the incident to be appropriate."

However, Proft’s family has questions and hired a lawyer, attorney Gary George.

Jalen Proft

In a statement, George says investigations are ongoing, and it’s too early to comment on specifics but "as further information comes out, the family wants to make sure that Jalen is remembered as a loved and valued member of the Proft family."

FOX6 asked sheriff Martin Schulteis if he was available for an interview.

In an email, Schulteis said while he has always been an advocate for public transparency, he could not answer questions about the case because of a potential lawsuit.

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