234 people have died in Kentucky jails since 2020. Critics call it a 'systemic failure'

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Reposted by Domestic Enemy Hat

‪Jessica Pishko‬ ‪@jesspish.bsky.social‬
·
1d
A radical left demand that people not be kidnapped, disappear, and die at the hands of the state.
https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article294662219.html

234 people have died in Kentucky jails since 2020. Critics call it a ‘systemic failure’
The Herald-Leader analyzed 5 years of KY Department of Corrections death logs, lawsuits, autopsy reports and death certificates. Here’s what we found.
www.kentucky.com

https://bsky.app/profile/jesspish.bsky.social/post/3ljicd7f3n22j

234 people have died in Kentucky jails since 2020. Critics call it a ‘systemic failure’

By Taylor Six Updated February 27, 2025 5:01 PM

When Terri Beth Mays was arrested in October 2021 for drug possession and trafficking, she told Whitley County Detention Center staff she had a seizure disorder. She had been at the jail several times before, with a documented history of seizures that required hospitalization. ... But for the last eight days of her life, Mays, 32, did not receive her prescribed medication, according to a lawsuit filed by her mother, Tammy Webb.

Mays’ breath became ragged and harsh. Surveillance footage showed her delirious and falling on the floor. She hit her head on the toilet in her cell before collapsing. ... Thirty minutes later, a staff member entered Mays’ cell and found her unresponsive. The employee left the cell, despite having a radio clipped to her side to call for help, according to a lawsuit. ... Mays was eventually taken to a hospital, and she died soon after. Her Nov. 4 death was ruled an “accident,” the result of cardiac dysrhythmia due to dehydration, according to death records. She didn’t live to see her first court hearing.

Just months before Mays’ death the Department of Corrections conducted an inspection of the Whitley County Detention Center that found eight violations. ... During a subsequent inspection five months later, 21 violations were recorded, including overcrowding, lack of medical training for staff and failure to conduct observation checks, according to inspection records. ... Five more people died inside the detention center over the next two years.

Mays’ death was one of hundreds in Kentucky jails in recent years — 234, in all, between 2020 and 2024, a six-month Herald-Leader investigation reveals.

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[dutch777]

1. I think this is rampant in much of the US prison system. How is there not a class action lawsuit in this?