Family wants to know why man had hypothermia when he died in county prison

The playground at 4th and Emerald served as a sanctuary for kids in uptown Harrisburg in the 1990s.

It was the go-to spot for neighborhood kids to catch up with friends in their “posse” or compete in rap battles.

Behind the playground equipment is the grassy lot where Jamal Crummel played football as a child with his friends. It’s where those same friends gathered Saturday to release balloons in memory of Crummel, who died Jan. 31 following a “medical emergency” in the Dauphin County Prison. He was 45.

In addition to their grief, friends and loved ones have questions about how Crummel died and how he was treated in the weeks prior to his death. His cause of death has not been released.

His father heard about Crummel’s death on Facebook and rushed to the prison near the Harrisburg mall to find out if it were true. They referred him to the coroner’s office, where he was able to see his son’s body.

Crummel was known for being immaculately clean, but his body appeared neglected, his father said. Crummel’s legs and feet were covered in abscesses. A rash had developed across Crummel’s body, his father said.

The coroner’s office told Crawford that his son suffered from hypothermia before dying, according to Crawford.

“I don’t see how you can get hypothermia in prison,” he said.

District Attorney Fran Chardo confirmed Crummel had hypothermia but said county investigators do not believe that is what caused his death. The temperature in his cell was 62 degrees, Chardo said.

Hypothermia is when a person’s body temperature drops below 95 and can be caused by bitter cold but also temperatures above 40 degrees is a person is wet, sweaty or in damp conditions, according to the Mayo Clinic. Left untreated, hypothermia can lead to complete heart and respiratory failure.

Crawford expressed frustration with what he considers a lack of transparency in regard to his son’s death. When he calls the prison for updates, he said, no one answers or he is put on hold for long periods of time.

“A lot of times people don’t care about people like my son until it happens to their kid,” Crawford said. “I hope this doesn’t happen to anybody else’s kid.”

But it has happened to other people’s kids.

Crummel is the 16th person to die while incarcerated since 2019 in the prison, which houses people awaiting trial and those who have been convicted with sentences of less than one year.

Crummel struggled with mental health issues throughout his adult life, according to friends and family. By the time he was 23, he’d been hit by a car and Tased 7–8 times by police, his family said. But he never let illness wipe the bright smile off his face.

“Jamal, you are going to be so missed,” said Crummel’s lifelong friend Monica Gallmon-Hill said at the memorial event Saturday. “[He] was an awesome friend.”

Gallmon-Hill gave birth to her son in the late 90s, while she was in high school. Crummel used to joke that he helped raise the boy. When Gallmon-Hill’s son was about 3, she said Crummel put him on his lap and let the boy hold the steering wheel to entertain him as Crummel drove up and down 6th Street.

When Gallmon-Hill’s son died a few years ago, Crummel was right by her side.

“We’re a family here in uptown Harrisburg,” Gallmon-Hill said.

Crummel’s father said Crummel was on disability while he continued to try to get his health in check. Sometimes Crummel met a homeless person or friend in need on his walk to the bank and gave away his entire check, leaving him broke.

“That’s the kind of person he was. He always would treat people with respect,” Crawford said, his voice cracking. “He was my son and I love him a lot.”

Crummel, also known as “Top Dawg”, had a perfect memory of the time before he became mentally ill. His ability to remember a moment no one else could brought joy to his friends.

“We were like brothers. He always remembered the good things about people,” said Willie Bristol, or “Snoop.”

One of Crummel’s favorite memories was meeting the R&B duo Changing Faces when they were getting popular in the early 90s. Crummel excitedly called up Bristol one night while Bristol was out with his girlfriend, Bristol said. Crummel told Bristol to come meet him right away, because he’d met Changing Faces and wanted to show them around Harrisburg while they were in town for a concert.

Crummel’s friends described him as a devout Muslim who had dreams of giving back and preaching to his church. He also wanted to help Harrisburg’s youth and keep them out of the streets.

“He always talked with wisdom, he always smiled,” Bristol said. “He was very motivational.”

But mental illness kept getting in the way. Crawford said medication did not help Crummel, and since he was an adult, it was difficult trying to force him into any kind of program.

Crummel was arrested in September after Pennsylvania State Police accused him of trying to run over troopers dressed in business clothes who were walking into a training session at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on North Third Street. He was charged with six felony counts of aggravated assault.

Crawford said Crummel was drinking and possibly using his phone while driving that day, and did not mean to drive toward the troopers. Crummel had his share of problems, but he was never violent, his father said.

“He didn’t think real clear [but] he never was violent toward people. He was a good person,” Crawford said.

Crummel had been incarcerated since Sept. 15 while awaiting trial under a $150,000 cash bail, which he could not post. He was hospitalized for a chronic skin condition late last year and spent about a month in the hospital before he returned to the jail on Jan. 24, county officials said. Crawford said he did not know why Crummel was hospitalized.

Medical staff checked on Crummel at 7:43 a.m. Jan. 31 and spent about two minutes with him, according to a county news release.

County officials said a nurse checked on the man again at 9:03 a.m. and he refused his daily medication. About 20 minutes later, a guard checked on him and found him unresponsive in his bed in his cell. He did not have a cellmate, according to county spokesman Brett Hambright.

Prison and medical staff attempted life-saving measures – including CPR and AED – but Crummel did not survive, Hambright said. A deputy coroner pronounced Crummel dead at 10:12 a.m.

The Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the circumstances around Crummel’s death.

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