Toya Frazier
Toya Frazier, a mother, grandmother, sister and aunt, died on December 1, 2015, after being held at the Champaign County Jail in Illinois. According to a correctional officer's account, she was found unresponsive and taken to Carle Foundation Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The jail attributes her death to an accidental overdose of diphenhydramine from a medication she had brought in, and her sister Jacqueline Jones disputes the care she received in a federal wrongful death lawsuit that alleges inadequate searches, supervision and medical attention. Her attorney said she was a valuable person, and in a later account, her attorney said she spent her last day in the jail crying and begging for help, and was denied medical attention and moved to solitary confinement before she died.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed; neglect alleged). The jail's account attributes the death to an accidental diphenhydramine overdose from medication she brought in, while her sister Jacqueline Jones's federal wrongful death lawsuit alleges inadequate searches, supervision and medical attention, and her attorney says she was denied medical attention and moved to solitary confinement before dying.
Reported by: Champaign County Jail (the agency that held her); Jacqueline Jones, Toya Frazier's sister, through her federal wrongful death lawsuit (family or their lawyers); Toya Frazier's attorney (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Toya Frazier's sister, Jacqueline Jones, filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Champaign County, the sheriff and four staff members over her death at the Champaign County jail.