Jennifer Meyers, 37, succumbed to a virus, and was not taken to the hospital by contracted medical staff or by Macomb County Jail guards.
One witness recounted the incident stating, "She wasn't responding to me, and the minute I touched her she felt like she was in a meat freezer," while another witness remembers saying, "We've got to check her pulse, and she went like this, she is ice cold."
Robert Ihrie, family attorney for the Meyers, told Local 4 Defenders, "Obviously, when somebody comes into the jail, the punishment is being there, the punishment isn't to die."
Inmates claim that Meyers was sweating profusely, so they wrapped her in wet towels to cool her down.
One inmate said, "Nobody ever came in to check on her and see if she was OK," adding, "She wasn't eating. She wasn't drinking."
Inmates also say that Meyers had repeatedly sent word to medical staff about her condition but received no response. Jail officials did not act until Meyers was too weak to leave her cot for meal time.
Another inmate recounted how Meyers attempted to communicate with nurses using communications called "kites," but nurses repeatedly passed the buck to the next shift.
"She gave them the kite…She said she could barely get out of bed. She was trying to hand them a piece of paper. She said, 'You're going to have to give it to midnight staff or morning staff. I can't do (anything) about it.'"
