Attorney: Officials ignored family's medical care request for woman who died in Silverdale

Madison Deal, 26, died in Silverdale Correctional Facility on Aug. 18, 2016.
Madison Deal, 26, died in Silverdale Correctional Facility on Aug. 18, 2016.

The family of a 26-year-old woman who died while in custody at Silverdale Correctional Facility said Monday Madison Deal was attacked by other inmates six days before she died and that jail employees failed to provide proper medical attention.

However, the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's office found no evidence of trauma on Deal's body, associate medical examiner Steven Cogswell said. Her death was due to a medical event, he said.

photo Madison Deal, 26, died in Silverdale Correctional Facility on Aug. 18, 2016.

Attorneys Tom O'Neal and Bryan Hoss said in a statement that Deal was attacked in her cell on Aug. 12, two days after she turned herself in on a misdemeanor charge and entered Silverdale.

O'Neal, who is also Deal's great-uncle, said Tuesday he believed the other inmates attacked Deal to try to get her cigarettes. He said the attack should have been captured on jail surveillance footage, but he had not seen that footage.

Deal spoke with her mother through video chats on Aug. 13 and Aug. 15 and complained about vomiting, chest tightness and severe head pain, according to the family's attorneys. Deal told her mother that she was not receiving treatment, they said.

Deal's mother and grandmother both called Silverdale officials and asked that Deal be given medical care after Deal's video chat on Aug. 15, according to O'Neal and Hoss. The women said that a nurse at Silverdale hung up on both of them.

Deal collapsed at Silverdale on Aug. 16 and was at some point taken to Erlanger hospital, where she died early on Aug. 18, according to O'Neal and Hoss.

O'Neal said a witness told the attorneys Deal was sitting in Silverdale, ankles shackled and struggling to breathe, when she turned gray and shouted to guards for help, taking short, sharp breaths.

The witness said other inmates also began to shout for help, and that five or six guards were standing around but offered no assistance.

"[The witness] recalls that her hand was up in the air and all of a sudden she quit breathing and her hand fell," O'Neal said.

He declined to name the witness. Silverdale did not return multiple requests for comment Tuesday.

Cogswell said Tuesday he is still narrowing down exactly what sort of medical event led to Deal's death, but reiterated that he found no trauma during the autopsy. Trauma can include a wide range of injuries, from broken bones to open wounds and bruising.

"My issue is not trying to separate out whether there was any trauma, because I can already rule that out," Cogswell said. "My issue is nailing down tightly the medical issues she had."

O'Neal said that whether or not the fight led to Deal's death, he still believes Silverdale officials failed to provide proper medical aid.

"Even if there was no evidence of bruises, there is evidence that she was assaulted, and there is also evidence that she pleaded for help," he said. "They ignored her complaints. And whether they were from her being assaulted or whether she had any other medical problem, they ignored her complaints."

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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