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Depositions help answer questions about Ta'Neasha Chappell's death

By Dominick Heyob

Posted February 17, 2023

Ta'Neasha Chappell rally

(Mitch Legan, WTIU/WFIU News)

Nearly one and a half years after Ta’Neasha Chappell’s death under the care of the Jackson County Jail, her family and lawyer are piecing together the story of why she died.

A recently released deposition of Jackson County Sheriff Rick Meyer and one jail officer highlight some of the reasons. Chappell family lawyer Sam Aguiar questioned Meyer for over an hour in March of 2022 about jail procedures for medical emergencies.

Chappell’s Medical History

Much of Aguiar’s questioning involves the fact that Chappell was throwing up blood. In released footage from inside her cell, she is also seen calling out for help, hitting her head, and falling on the floor.

“We have audio recordings. We have reports that show these jailers were on notice that she was throwing up blood. We now have pictures, as grotesque as it may sound, of the bucket where she was throwing up into,” Aguiar said in an interview last year.

Chappell first complained about throwing up blood on the afternoon of July 15. That night, she asked to go to the hospital. It was not until after she hit her head in the afternoon of July 16 that an ambulance was called.

Every inmate is required to receive a comprehensive medical assessment within their first 14 days in jail, according to court documents. Chappell never received one. Because of this, the jail nurse and staff were not aware of her medical history, which showed that she suffered from chronic bleeding stomach ulcers.

Aguiar said that the jail nurse had a three-to-four month backlog of inmate medical assessments. Meyer said he was unaware of that.

Emergency Protocol

According to the deposition, the jail has a binder available to staff which includes protocols for managing different medical emergencies. Protocol says that if an inmate is vomiting blood, a physician needs to be contacted. In the early hours of July 16, one correctional officer reported that he saw blood to his sergeant, according to his deposition.

Meyer said if that was the case, the sergeant should have called for an ambulance, which he did not do at the time.

Later that morning, the jail nurse met Ta'Neasha in her cell. By around 8:45 a.m, he learned that she had bleeding stomach ulcers, according to his deposition.

“We’ve got all the jail officers right now saying, ‘we definitely didn’t do the best that we could,’” Aguiar said.

Aguiar filed a civil lawsuit against the jail staff last year claiming Chappell’s civil rights were violated. As it stands, the parties have yet to reach a settlement in the case. Meyer and his attorney did not answer a request for comment.

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