Tanna Jo Fillmore
Tanna Jo Fillmore, 25, had lived with mental illness for years and had been stable on prescribed medication. Her family, known to call her Jo-Jo or TJ, remembers her as a fearless rodeo barrel racer who rode her horses in the mountains near home, and her mother called her 'the horse whisperer.' She died by hanging in her cell at the Duchesne County Jail on Thanksgiving Day 2016, about nine days after she was admitted. A lawsuit against the county says jail staff denied her medication and ignored her repeated requests for help, while the family says she had planned to enter a residential treatment program. The county's contracted doctor said he received no request for her medication.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). The county's contracted doctor says he received no request for her medication, while her family and a civil rights lawsuit against Duchesne County say jail staff denied her prescribed anti-anxiety medication and ignored her repeated requests for help before she hanged herself in her cell.
Reported by: Duchesne County Jail's contracted doctor (the agency that held her); Civil rights lawsuit against Duchesne County (family or their lawyers); Tanna Jo Fillmore's family (family or their lawyers); Associated Press (reporters).
Lawsuit: Her family sued Duchesne County over her death in the Duchesne County Jail, alleging jail staff denied her psychiatric medication, and the lawsuit has no reported outcome or amount.