Woman 'deprived of water' dies in South Carolina jail

Community

Thursday February 25, 2016 · 9:05 AM PST

2016/02/25 · 09:05

Jail cell — County jail cells are typically thought of as temporary places ... not the absolute last place on earth a person will be.

Joyce Curnell was a 50-year-old woman who died last summer in the Charleston County, South Carolina, jail. She was one of five black women who died while in police custody under seemingly mysterious circumstances at the time. On February 24, the Post and Courier reported that Curnell died from being “deprived of water” while in the jail:

She spent the last 27 hours of her life behind bars. During that time she became too sick to eat or call for help, according to court documents filed this week. She vomited all night and couldn’t make it to a bathroom, so jailers gave her a trash bag. Some medical staffers ignored the jail officials’ requests to tend to her, the documents alleged.

Curnell’s family filed a notice Wednesday to sue the jail’s medical contractor, Carolina Center for Occupational Health, for malpractice. Unless a settlement is reached, a lawsuit likely will follow. The filing cited expert opinion from a local doctor, who said Curnell’s death “more likely than not” would have been prevented if she had been properly treated for gastroenteritis and dehydration.

Curnell had been taken by ambulance to an emergency room after complaining of nausea and vomiting and diagnosed with gastroenteritis. Now, here’s where it gets interesting:

At some point at the hospital, it was discovered that she had a bench warrant in a 2011 shoplifting case. She had been put on a payment plan in April 2012 to cover $1,148.90 in fines related to the charge, according to court records, but she quit paying the following January. After she didn’t respond to a letter from the court, the warrant was issued in August 2014.

No one could tell The Post and Courier how law enforcement got word of the warrant as she lay in the hospital last summer.

The article in the Post and Courier continues:

The Charleston Police Department was first summoned there, but officers later called deputies from the Sheriff’s Office. [Maj. Eric Watson of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office] said he could not immediately find documentation about how the authorities learned of Curnell’s charge.

Curnell was treated at Roper St. Francis Hospital’s emergency room. Does Roper have a written contract or a verbal agreement with law enforcement to check all emergency room visitors for warrants? Some emergency room visitors? Certain emergency room visitors? Hmmm …

Joyce Curnell and countless other black women who have died at the hands of law enforcement—or in the hands of law enforcement—have not had their stories amplified in the media in the same manner as Trayvon Martin or Mike Brown. That’s the main reason that the hashtag #SayHerName came into being. Fortunately, the media is beginning to pay more attention. But at the end of the day, that is rather unfortunate.

Embedded Content

This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member.

Make YOUR voice heard!

Comments are closed on this story.