Mayra Ramirez
Mayra Ramirez was a woman whose mother, Blanky Bradshaw, said she loved talking on the phone with her every day, which was her main way of staying in touch with the outside world. She lived with serious medical problems, chronic pain and a disability that left her in a wheelchair, and she made at least 33 urgent requests for medical care while held at the Marion County Jail. On September 7, 2023, she collapsed at the jail and was pronounced dead at AdventHealth Ocala Hospital, and Disability Rights Florida attributes her death to pancreatitis and heart disease, while heart failure is also given as the cause. Disability Rights Florida has found probable cause that medical neglect may have contributed to her death, and its investigation is active, while the Marion County Sheriff's Office and Heart of Florida Health Center maintain that medical care at the jail met standards. Her family says she should have been hospitalized sooner.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (neglect alleged). Disability Rights Florida says she died of pancreatitis and heart disease after jail staff ignored at least 33 urgent requests for medical care, and the Marion County Sheriff and Heart of Florida Health Center say the jail's medical care met standards.
Reported by: Disability Rights Florida (advocates).
News reports (6)
- Florida has no law requiring deaths in custody to be reported by local law enforcement
- Mayra Ramirez needed urgent hospitalization before her death in custody
- Disability rights group investigating MCSO over treatment of jail inmates
- Disability rights group finds “medical neglect” as probable cause of Mayra Ramirez’ death in jail
- Marion County’s jail remains one of the deadliest in Florida
- Recap of findings from the Ocala Gazette’s investigation into the Marion County Jail