Black woman dies in jail after cries for help for severe stomach pain were ignored

A black inmate named Lamekia Dockery passed away in jail after the police ignored her pleas for help after experiencing severe stomach pain.

Lamekia Dockery's death could have easily been avoided if people listened to her cries for help, but instead, she ended up ignored. According to the corrections officer's log which was filed after her death, he was aware that one morning, Dockery revealed that she has been having severe stomach pains for two days and wanted to go to the hospital. While this could have easily been known as a cry for help, the officer advised her to "stop over-talking me."

During the six days that she was jailed at the Elkhart Community Corrections work-release facility, she was vomiting and unable to eat. When she asked for medical attention, no one helped her.

A day after, the corrections facility log stated that she "sprawled out on the floor stating she couldn't breathe. She seemed to be talking just fine." It turns out, she passed away just a few minutes later.

At 36-years-old, Ms. Dockery passed away in jail. The safety of inmates, especially those serving some time for least serious crimes or those that have not even been convicted for the charges against them have been questioned especially since jails have fewer resources than full prisons. In fact, jails do not have medical staff, which makes illness and injury go untreated.

According to a lawyer named William R. Claiborne who specializes in inadequate medical care, it would become a huge scandal if people in the country realized just how bad the jail situation is in America, and how abused the inmates are when it comes to being deprived of their health benefits.

“The more marginalized that you are, the more likely you are to not be believed, the more likely you are to get denied care.”

Dockery, at age 36, died of cognitive heart failure after being told that her fainting spells were "fake" to get away from the prison. It turns out the threat was definitely real, and if only they listened, she could have remained alive.