Woman dies on courthouse floor without medical aid after arrest over unpaid ticket, suit says
Arrested and jailed over an allegedly unpaid 2008 traffic ticket, Dwana Voncia London-Richardson died, at age 45, on an Alabama courthouse floor days after sheriff’s department and jail workers failed to provide her with medical treatment, a federal lawsuit says.
It names as defendants the St. Clair County sheriff, county jail administrators and a company that is responsible for providing health care to inmates, Courthouse News reports.
London-Richardson’s daughter says her mom was refused treatment for her asthma and other health problems both at the jail and as she lay on the courthouse floor days later gasping for breath before a scheduled hearing.
“Everyone in the courtroom watched as Ms. Richardson died in court, on the courtroom floor,” the suit says, contending that deputies neither sought help for her nor cleared the courtroom.
