Chuniece Patterson was arrested on a bench warrant Nov. 10, 2009, and taken to the Justice Center jail in Syracuse, NY. She died less than 48 hours later.
 Chuniece Patterson |
Sheriff Kevin Walsh lied and said that her death appeared to be due to natural causes. (The Post Standard, Nov. 12, 2009) An inquiry by the Post Standard into the jail’s records, however, revealed that her death resulted from the denial of medical treatment while in custody.
According to medical records, Patterson discovered she was pregnant when she was booked at the Justice Center. The next evening, she began complaining of abdominal pain. Statements from nurses, deputies and other prisoners revealed that she spent the last 14 hours of her life in immense suffering.
First, the records revealed that no action was taken in response to her pleas for help. There was no cursory exam of her abdomen or pelvic area and no ultrasound. A doctor told the Post Standard that any one of these routine procedures would have shown that Patterson had an ectopic pregnancy in her fallopian tube.
Patterson would have lived had she received treatment.
Missy Clayton, a jail nurse, made three visits to Patterson’s cell between 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11 and 1:45 a.m. Nov. 12. There was no record that Clayton took Patterson’s temperature or blood pressure during that time, even when Patterson vomited on her cell floor. Clayton also did not write her notes at the times of her visits. She wrote them after Patterson died.
While the jail nurse repeatedly neglected Patterson’s cries for help, Deputy Diane Stech interpreted them as unruly behavior. Stech, who was informed upon starting her shift that Patterson said she was having trouble breathing, found her on the floor of her cell four times while she was making rounds the morning of Nov. 12.
When she found Patterson lying on the floor, Stech ordered her to get up. When she discovered Patterson leaning against the toilet, splashing water onto her face with a plastic cup, she ordered Patterson to stop.
At 7:30 a.m., Stech went into Patterson’s cell and removed the plastic cup from the toilet. During this time, inmate Rhonda Dunn was also pleading for the guards and nurses to help Patterson.
Finally, Stech found Patterson unresponsive in her cell. Attempts to revive her failed.
Fourteen years ago, inmate Lucinda Batts died in the Justice Center from the same complication. The Commission of Correction found that her death could have been prevented had she been given the appropriate medical care.
Chundra Smith, Patterson’s mother, has filed her intention to sue Onondaga County in response to her daughter’s death. The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands in solidarity with all victims of the racist prison-industrial complex. Justice for Chuniece Patterson!
