Malorie Hults
Malorie Hults, 31, was a creative person who was especially close to her older sister and was studying architecture, her family said. On the night of March 23, 2022, her family called for help because they said she was not acting like herself and was reacting to medication days after a hospital discharge, and her mother said she wanted her taken to a hospital. Police took her to the Linn County Jail, where staff found her not breathing on the floor of her cell around 2 a.m. on March 24, and she was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The medical examiner attributed her death to complications of substance abuse, which her mother said was withdrawal; the family's lawsuit alleged her medical intake was not completed, and experts called the death preventable. The county paid an $850,000 settlement in 2025 without admitting liability, and the family plans to use it to start a scholarship for architecture students.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed; neglect alleged). The state medical examiner attributes her death to complications of chronic substance use, while her family's lawyer says the death appears preventable and her family says they asked for her to be taken to a hospital and a lawsuit alleged the medical intake was not completed.
Reported by: State Medical Examiner (medical examiner or coroner); Her family and their lawyer (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her family sued the county sheriff and a jail nurse, and Linn County approved an $850,000 settlement in August 2025 without admitting liability.
News reports (5)
- Sheriff: Linn County Jail deaths unpreventable
- Linn County to approve $850,000 settlement in inmate death case
- Linn County Board of Supervisors set to approve $850,000 settlement after inmate death
- Linn County Supervisors approve $850k settlement after inmate death
- Mother of woman who died in Linn County Jail custody wants changes to inmate screenings