CLEVELAND — MetroHealth has hired well-known Cleveland defense attorney Ian Friedman to help the hospital navigate the criminal investigation into the death of a woman inside her hospital room on May 5, 2025.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Tasha Grant’s death a homicide and said the 39-year-old double leg amputee died as a result of “physical restraint in the setting of congestive heart failure.”
Body camera video showed MetroHealth police officers and a Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputy restrained Grant against her bed and handcuffed Grant about 15 minutes before she was found unresponsive.
Police officers wrote in reports that Grant was frustrated about her pain and medication and threw herself on the floor and then threatened nurses and staff.
On the recording, a nurse can be seen injecting something into Grant’s arm as Grant repeatedly said she couldn’t breathe.
“On that day with the passing of Ms. Grant, this was a tragedy,” said Friedman at a news conference Monday.“It was an unavoidable tragedy. Everyone did what they could do in that case.”
The news conference marked the first time since Grant’s death that hospital administrators publicly addressed the incident.
“On May 5, we experienced the heartbreak of losing our patient, Tasha Grant,” said MetroHealth President and CEO Christine Alexander-Rager. “To all who loved and cared for her, we offer our deepest condolences.”
Alexander-Rager said the community deserves “openness from us” concerning Grant’s death.
But when asked for details about the case and the care Grant received, administrators repeatedly cited patient privacy.
That included a question about the injection Grant was given minutes before her death.
“That’s related to patient privacy, so I won’t be able to answer that question for you,” said Alexander-Rager.
Grant had been an inmate at the Cuyahoga County jail, where records showed she was being held on vandalism and aggravated menacing charges.
She was taken to MetroHealth three days before she died after complaining of chest pains.
“Tasha was well-known to the MetroHealth family and meant so much to our community,” said the hospital’s president.
Administrators said Monday that internal reviews of Grant’s case continue.
The criminal investigation is being handled by Trumbull County Sheriff’s detectives after Cuyahoga County’s sheriff requested the case be turned over to outside investigators last month.
Friedman believes officers acted appropriately.
“I have looked at this from all sides,” said Friedman, “and I am absolutely confident that there is absolutely no criminal conduct involved here at all.”
The attorneys representing Grant’s family called for criminal charges against the officers at a separate news conference two weeks ago.
In a statement Monday afternoon, those attorneys said, in part, "The family of Tasha Grant was incredibly disappointed after hearing the insensitive comments made by representatives of MetroHealth Medical Center earlier today," and said, "it is clear from the video that Ms. Grant was treated inhumanely."
