.Scioto County Prosecutor Shane Tieman handed off the job of prosecuting any charges in the homicide of Kevin Bailey to the state of Ohio. In a statement, Tieman said, “The Ohio Attorney General’s Office accepted the request from the Scioto County Prosecutor’s Office to review and prosecute any charges arising out of the homicide investigation of the death of Kevin Bailey at the Scioto County Jail.”
Tieman said the move was to avoid any legal conflicts. The county prosecutor’s office is technically also the attorney for the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office. The move means there could be even more delays in charges in the death of the 56-year-old Portsmouth man.
Bailey’s sister, Karen Skaggs has been demanding justice for her brother for months. She said no one from the prosecutor’s office notified her the state would take over the case. She only wants one thing, “I just wish someone would bring charges against him. It’s not fair he is spending the holidays with his family while our family mourns for Kevin.”
Blunt Force Trauma To Bailey
Bailey sustained severe injuries in an incident at the Scioto County Jail back on May 26. The sheriff’s office initially said that he’d run into a door during a scuffle. He was transported to a Columbus hospital suffering from a fractured skull, broken ribs, and other injuries and died on June 1st.
Witnesses came forward with a different story, claiming Bailey was beaten by jail personnel after mouthing off. The State of Ohio took over the investigation into his death. In mid-June, a jail employee was dismissed in connection with the incident.
Over the summer, Prosecutor Tieman said any charges would have to wait until the final report came back from the state. On October 2, the coroner’s report ruled Bailey’s death a homicide by blunt force trauma. The reports detail multiple skull fractures, broken ribs, and bruises to Bailey’s lungs.
When SCDN reached out to Shane Tieman in October about the delay in the prosecution of the Kevin Bailey case, he refused to comment specifically on the case, but did say, “I can tell you that there is not always an arrest made right away on serious investigations. Once an arrest is made, there is a time clock for a speedy trial. If you have a complex case to put together, that can be problematic. In those cases, the matter proceeds to the grand jury, and then an indictment warrant or summons is issued.”
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