Zenorah Congious
Not found on the Texas Attorney General’s published list of deaths in custody.
Zenorah was born on May 17, 2020, in a cell at the Tarrant County Jail in Texas, where her mother was being held. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, and her family's lawsuit says she was left without enough oxygen. Her grandmother, Kim Hammond, held her skin to skin, hired a music therapist to sing to her, and dressed her for burial with golden angel wings and gold-painted toes. After about ten days in a hospital incubator, doctors withdrew life support, and she died on May 27, 2020. Her mother's family sued the jail's former medical director, who says he did not see an email warning that she might be in labor until after the birth; the case is on appeal, and the county later approved a $1.2 million settlement for her death.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined (disputed; neglect alleged). Her family's lawsuit against the jail's former medical director says he ignored an email warning she might be in labor, while he says he did not see it until after the birth.
Reported by: family's lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Her family sued the Tarrant County Jail's former medical director, and Tarrant County approved a $1.2 million settlement over her death.
News reports (4)
- Crisis Behind Bars: Systemic Failures At Tarrant County Jail
- Amid scrutiny of Tarrant County Jail deaths, internal records reveal scrapped policy recommendations
- Pregnancy Behind Bars Proves Deadly for Women and Their Babies
- Mother of mentally ill jail inmate blames medical director for baby's death