The Indiana jail where Louisville woman Ta'Neasha Chappell was held before her death had conditions tantamount to unconstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment," an attorney for the family alleged during a news conference Thursday evening.
"It was so bad that Ta'Neasha called and her family and let them know, 'Please get me out of here. If I can't get out, I'm going to die here,'" local attorney Lonita Baker said. "Unfortunately, her greatest fear happened.
"She went in a young, 23-year-old mother, healthy, and she should have returned to her family that same way."
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Chappell was beingheld in the Jackson County Jailin Brownstown, Indiana, 50 miles north of Louisville, on chargesstemming from an alleged May 26 theft and high-speed chase. She was one of the few Black women in the jail population, Baker said.
On July 16, she was taken to Schneck Medical Center in nearby Seymour, whereshe died, according to Indiana State Police, which isinvestigating the death.
Besides Baker,Chappell's family has hired prominent lawyersSam Aguiar and Florida-based Ben Crump to helpget answers about what happened to her. The trio previouslysecureda $12 million settlement last year from the city of Louisvillefor the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in March 2020.
Only Baker was at the press conference.
She said Chappell, who had a 10-year-old daughter, began to get sick on July 15, when she started vomiting and spikeda fever that was severe enough for jail staff to check her temperature every 15 minutes. ButEMS was not called until nearly 24 hours later when staff found Chappell unresponsive, the lawyersaid.
Jail staff told Chappell's family they believe her death was "something chemical,"but the family has been told little else, Baker said.
"But that doesn't explain the bruises on her face," Baker said. "It doesn't explain the frantic calls to her family."
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, has previously declined to comment on the case. The sheriff's office did not immediately return a phone call left on a voicemail on Friday. A woman who answered the phone at the office on Wednesday morning said all questions were being directed to the Indiana State Police.
The state police confirmed an autopsy has been performed and declined Tuesday to offer any additional information, saying the results will take "several days or longer."
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Chappelldid not have any preexisting conditions, according to her sister, Ronesha Murrell.
Baker said she does not have any indication as to Chappell's cause of death, but there will be an independent medical exam conducted.
Murrell said her sister was jumped inside the jail and had been cut on her neck, but she wasn'tseparated from others after that incident.
In a Facebook post shared shortly before the press conference, Aguiar alleged numerous serious issues at the Jackson County Jail. Many of the claimsinvolvea lack of hygiene and medical care,including that those in the jail have been "forced to live in sewage multiple times. Black mold too."
The post says the jail doesn't have "any medical personnel available most of the time."
"Deprived of basic medical needs. Guards telling them they’re faking or making them wait over a week to even see a nurse," it reads. "See a nurse who doesn’t give them their medications that are critical for health. And when inmates say something, nurse locks them down."
Aguiar also alleged the jail has mishandled the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"This jail has 240 inmates coming and going. But claims to have had zero inmates with COVID. Ever. Only staff," the Facebook post reads. "Well that’s what happens when you ignore people who can’t breath(e), have uncontrollable fevers and are neglected. Oh, and Jackson County, as of late last year, had the highest COVIDpositivity rate in all of Indiana.
"Zero inmates with COVIDthough at all since the pandemic started? That’s deliberate indifference."
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Other allegations listed in the post included prisoners being"deprived of showers" and "constantly attacked with guards doing nearly nothing." It said people are"constantly called the N word if one of the few Black female inmates" and "have to deal with guards who are constantly showing favoritism to certain female inmates who will flirt back with them."
Aguiar said those who complain "have many of their grievances crumbled and thrown in trash by guards." He also alleged people held in the jail are "deprived of food and water if they try to speak out about the inhumane conditions."
"Ta’Neasha didn’t have a chance," the post concludes. "Release the video. Explain why she was left in her cell for 24 hours while vomiting and fighting a spiking fever. Explain the facial injuries. What happened to Ta’Neasha Chappell?"
Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall
