Janice Dotson-Stephens
Janice Dotson Stephens was a 61-year-old woman and grandmother whose family says she lived with schizoaffective disorder. She died in December 2018 while held at the Bexar County Jail in Texas. The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said she died of natural causes after being taken to the infirmary at the annex detention center. Her family said her hypertension and schizophrenia medications were never given during about 150 days in custody, and that she died of heart disease worsened by her illness. In January 2022, a jury declined to find the county and University Health System responsible in the family's civil rights and disability lawsuit, which her daughter, Michelle Dotson, helped bring.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (neglect alleged). The Bexar County Sheriff's Office said she died of natural causes, while her family says heart disease worsened by her schizoaffective disorder after staff never gave her hypertension and schizophrenia medications during her custody.
Reported by: Bexar County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held her); her family.
Lawsuit: Her family sued Bexar County, an arresting officer and a health services provider, alleging she lost 136 pounds and received no treatment while awaiting a psychiatric evaluation, and in January 2022 a jury declined to find the defendants responsible, with no payment reported.