Rhonda Burke
Rhonda Burke had schizophrenia. In 2021 she was booked into the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon twice in a single week. A nurse ordered that she be monitored around the clock, but jail staff did not follow that order and held her in isolation, and her family says staff denied her medication for alcohol withdrawal. She died by suicide three days into her second stay, and her family filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (neglect alleged). Rhonda Burke's family's wrongful death lawsuit says she died by suicide and that jail staff failed to provide the round-the-clock monitoring a nurse had ordered, and denied her medication for alcohol withdrawal.
Reported by: family's wrongful death lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her family filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit, but no settlement or jury award amount is reported.