Kelli Leanne Page
Kelli Leanne Page, a 46-year-old woman and mother of five, died on October 8, 2017 while held at the Coryell County Jail in Gatesville, Texas. Her family's lawsuit says jailers removed her from her cell using pepper spray, slammed her to the floor and held her down, and that her body went limp during the restraint. The county sheriff's office said she became unresponsive after jailers entered her administrative segregation cell. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from mechanical asphyxia in association with physical restraint, with heart disease, cirrhosis and obesity likely contributing, and the county and jailers have not yet answered the lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed). The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from mechanical asphyxia in association with physical restraint, with heart disease, cirrhosis and obesity likely contributing; her parents' lawsuit says jailers sprayed her with pepper spray, slammed her to the floor, punched her and held her down until she went limp, while the sheriff's office said only that she became unresponsive after jailers entered her cell.
Reported by: Dallas County Medical Examiner's office (medical examiner or coroner); her parents' lawsuit (family or their lawyers); Coryell County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held her).
Lawsuit: Her parents and her estate filed lawsuits over her death at the Coryell County Jail, and the county and the two jailers had not yet answered the federal complaint in the reporting.