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The prison riot was planned and started by a group of Muslim gang members. Once the riot began, two other prison gangs, the Aryan Brotherhood and the Black Gangster Disciples, joined in. Carlos Sanders, Stanley Cummings, and Were – who was also known as “Namir” – were leaders of the Muslim gang during the riot.
The Aryan Brotherhood, a white supremacist gang, was led by Jason Robb and George Skatzes.
The Black Gangster Disciples was headed by Anthony Lavelle.
After the riot started, each of the three gangs staked out separate territory within L-Block. The Muslims controlled the L-6 cellblock and stayed there for the duration of the riot. During the riot, Were wore a striped referee’s shirt, signifying that he was allowed access to any area controlled by the prisoners.
As the takeover began, a group of masked inmates entered the L-1 cellblock where Vallandingham was stationed. Vallandingham had locked himself into the officer’s bathroom near the front of the L-1 cellblock. Several inmates turned over a metal desk and started banging that desk against the bathroom door. Inmate Steve Macko identified Were as one of the inmates near the bathroom at this time. Eventually, Vallandingham was removed from the bathroom.
Were, Sanders, and Reggie Williams, another Muslim gang member, then took Vallandingham down the corridor to the L-6 cellblock. Vallandingham was put into the L-6 shower where his hands were cuffed behind his back and a sheet was placed over his head. Vallandingham was later moved to a cell in the L-6 cellblock.
Organized negotiations between the authorities and the inmates began on the second day of the riot. Additionally, on the second day, the Ohio State Highway Patrol installed listening devices in the large tunnels underneath L-Block. Shortly thereafter, the FBI supplied more sophisticated January Term, 2008 listening devices, which were placed in crevices at ten locations underneath LBlock. Authorities then listened and recorded inmate conversations, referred to as the “tunnel tapes,” during the duration of the riot. A total of 591 “tunnel tapes” were created. Also, on the second day of the riot, the water and power were turned off inside L-Block.
On April 14, the public information officer for the Department of Corrections responded to media questions about inmate threats. She stated that there had been threats and that they were a standard part of the negotiations. The inmates, who were following the news on battery-operated televisions and radios, were upset by these comments and felt that the authorities were not taking them seriously.
During a meeting on April 15 that was recorded on tunnel tape 61, Were and other inmate leaders discussed killing one of the hostages to show the authorities that they meant business. Were, who described himself as a hardliner, urged others to take a firmer stand during the negotiations.
Before the April 15 meeting concluded, Were and the other inmate leaders voted to kill a corrections officer if their demands were not met. The Muslim inmates decided that Vallandingham would be killed because he had seen them kill another inmate at the beginning of the riot. After the meeting, Were stated, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it, I’ll take care of it. The hardliners is taking over. I’ll take care of it.”
During the riot, inmate Thomas Taylor was locked in a cell in the L-6 cellblock. On the morning of April 15, Taylor saw Were and another inmate remove Vallandingham from his cell and take him to the end of the L-6 cellblock. Around the same time, inmate Sherman Sims walked past the L-6 shower area. Were was standing at the shower door and looking into the shower. Were noticed Sims and asked what he was doing there. While this exchange took place, Sims looked into the shower and saw a man with something over his head being strangled with a rope by two people. He also saw one of them “putting a bar to the man’s throat.”
Were told Sims that he would have to help carry the body out of the prison. Were directed the inmates to wrap the body in sheets. At 11:10 a.m. on April 15, Sims and three other masked inmates carried Vallandingham’s body from the prison and into the recreation yard.
State v. Were, 118 Ohio St.3d 448, 2008-Ohio-2762. Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Hamilton County. No. 2006-1578. Submitted February 26, 2008. Decided June 17, 2008.
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