Ryan Trowbridge
Ryan Elizabeth Trowbridge, 35, died in June 2020 in her cell at the Lake County Jail in Ohio, where she was being held before trial. Her mother, Stacey Berrier, has sued Lake County, sheriff's officials and jail medical workers, and the lawsuit says Ryan was taken off the medication she used for opioid addiction, depression and anxiety, that her requests to see a doctor were ignored, and that she never received a mental health assessment. Ryan was found to have hanged herself in her cell two days after entering the jail. In 2024 a federal judge dismissed the family's federal claims, finding no evidence that staff knew she was in withdrawal or at risk of suicide, and the family may still pursue a wrongful death claim in state court. The sheriff's office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). Her mother's wrongful-death lawsuit says jail staff withheld her opioid addiction, depression and anxiety medication for several days, ignored her requests to see a doctor, and never gave her a mental health assessment; the sheriff's office declined to comment, and a federal judge later dismissed the family's federal claims, finding no evidence staff knew she was in withdrawal or at risk of suicide.
Reported by: Family, through a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by her mother, Stacey Berrier (family or their lawyers); U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent (court); Lake County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held her).
Lawsuit: Her mother sued Lake County, sheriff's officials and jail medical workers over her death; a federal judge dismissed the family's federal claims in 2024, and the family may still pursue a wrongful death claim in state court.