Kelly Coltrain
Kelly Coltrain, a 27-year-old woman, died in July 2017 while held at the Mineral County Jail in Hawthorne, Nevada. Her best friend, Katie Andreano, said her addiction began after a soccer injury in high school and that she was trying to quit heroin, and the family's lawsuit describes her as a successful student and a friendly, outgoing girl. Her attorney says she told guards about her addiction and seizure history, asked to see a doctor, and was denied care, and surveillance video shows her ordered to clean up her own vomit. A 300-page state report found jail staff broke policies by not taking her to a doctor or doing regular welfare checks, and the Washoe County Medical Examiner ruled the death accidental, which the family disputes in a federal wrongful death lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). The Washoe County Medical Examiner ruled her death accidental from complications of drug use, while her attorney and family's federal lawsuit say jail staff denied her medical care during heroin withdrawal and ignored her seizure history.
Reported by: Washoe County Medical Examiner (medical examiner or coroner); attorney Terri Keyser-Cooper and the family's federal lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Kelly Coltrain's family filed a federal lawsuit over her death at the Mineral County Jail in Nevada, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.