Tanisha Jefferson
Tanisha Jefferson was 30 years old and the mother of three children. She was booked into the Madison County Jail in Alabama on October 14, 2013, and for days afterward she was in severe abdominal pain and repeatedly asked to see a doctor. Her family's federal lawsuit says medical staff dismissed her and sent her back to her cell even as she got worse, and that she wrote that if she died, the jail staff would be responsible. She collapsed and died on October 31, 2013, of complications from a bowel obstruction, according to the lawsuit.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (neglect alleged). Her family's federal lawsuit says a bowel obstruction killed her and that jail medical staff ignored her repeated complaints of severe abdominal pain for days.
Reported by: family's federal lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her family sued over her death in the Madison County Jail, and the sources report no settlement or award amount.
News reports (4)
- 19-year-old dies naked on cell floor of gangrene; lawsuits target deaths in Madison County jail
- Lawsuits: Alabama Jailers Allowed 3 Inmates to Die of 19th-Century Ailments
- Lawsuits: Alabama prisoners died of gangrene, constipation
- New York City to Pay $2.25M For Wrongful Death of Black Marine Vet at Riker’s