Medical examiner rules black woman's death in Ohio jail accidental
By Kim Palmer
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The death of a 37-year-old black woman found unresponsive in her Cleveland area jail cell this summer was accidental and related to medical conditions from which she suffered, Ohio state officials said on Friday.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner concluded Ralkina Jones died in her Cleveland Heights, Ohio, jail cell from sudden cardiac death. It said her death was related to postural tachycardia syndrome, a condition where the patient suffers from an abnormal heart rate along with low blood pressure, as well as her use of amphetamines to treat obesity.
An initial autopsy report in July also revealed no suspicious injuries.
"The decedent had a history of obstructive sleep apnea which, in association with oxycodone butalbital, alprazzolam and zolpidem use, placed her at increased risk for sudden death," Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson wrote in the report.
Attempts by Reuters to reach Jones' family were unsuccessful, but Northeast Ohio Media Group previously reported that her cousin Frederick Johnson had hired an attorney and was considering legal action against the police department.
Jones' death on July 26, two days after her arrest, came about two weeks after the high profile death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland, a black woman who was found hanging dead in her Texas jail cell on July 12, three days after her arrest.
Bland's traffic stop and subsequent death fueled criticism over the treatment of black men and women by police in the United States. Her family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Texas trooper, a sheriff's office and her jailers.
Lawyers for Waller County, the Texas county sued by Bland's family, said in court documents that Bland committed suicide because she was despondent over her relatives refusing to bail her out.
In Ohio, Jones was arrested for felonious assault, domestic violence and child endangerment after an altercation with her ex-husband while her daughter was with her, police said.
Jones informed officers of her several medical conditions and corresponding medications during her jail processing, police said.
Police video of Jones’ processing - which were released publicly - included her telling an officer, “I don’t want to die in your jail.”
However, video released by Cleveland Heights city and police officials from a camera located outside of Jones' cell showed gaps in the timestamps in the footage before her death.
During her time in jail, paramedics were called twice for Jones and once she was transported to the hospital, police said. She was pronounced dead after she was found unresponsive during an early morning prisoner check.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer, editing by Ben Klayman and Diane Craft)
