Joleen Nez
Joleen Nez, a Navajo and Zia Pueblo woman, had been working on her sobriety and was known to staff at the Albuquerque Indian Center. Her husband, Jason Howell, said, "She loved being with her kids." She was held at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in late January 2021, where she was placed in a detox unit and vomited repeatedly before being found unresponsive the following day. She died at the University of New Mexico Hospital on January 31, 2021; the autopsy report listed the toxic effects of methamphetamine as the cause, while her family and friends dispute that she used hard drugs and question why she did not receive help sooner.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed; neglect alleged). The autopsy attributed her death to the toxic effects of methamphetamine, but her family and friends dispute that she used hard drugs and question why she did not receive help sooner after she vomited repeatedly in the detox unit.
Reported by: autopsy report; Joleen Nez's family and friends (family or their lawyers).