Report: 27-Year-old Woman Lay Dead In Jail Cell For Hours

A Texas woman experiencing drug withdrawal symptoms while jailed in Nevada was dead in a video-monitored county cell for hours and not provided medical assistance when a deputy checked on her, according to a newly released report obtained by a newspaper.

The 300-page document on the death of Kelly Coltrain by the Nevada Division of Investigation shows that state investigators found evidence the Mineral County sheriff’s office may have violated state laws, but charges were never filed, the Reno Gazette Journal reported Friday.

Coltrain had asked for medical assistance hours before her death, but was instead given a mop to clean up her vomit, the newspaper said.

Coltrain, 27, was arrested July 19, 2017, after she was pulled over on suspicion of speeding outside Hawthorne, about 110 miles southeast of Carson City.

The officer discovered she had failed to answer traffic tickets, and the report states that she refused to answer questions about her medical history when she was taken to jail. After learning she wouldn’t make bail, she told Sgt. Jim Holland she was drug dependent and suffered seizures when withdrawing, according to the report.

The report shows Coltrain told a deputy she needed to be taken to a hospital about four hours after she was booked. But the deputy told her she wouldn’t be given medical assistance unless he determined her life was at risk.

“Unfortunately, since you’re DT’ing (referring to the detoxification process), I’m not going to take you over to the hospital right now just to get your fix,” deputy Ray Gulcynski told Coltrain, according to the document. “That’s not the way detention works, unfortunately. You are incarcerated with us, so . you don’t get to go to the hospital when you want.”

On July 22, 2017, Holland gave Coltrain a new uniform and a mop and asked her to clean her vomit. The newspaper reviewed video showing Coltrain eventually mopped while sitting on her bed, trembling and stopping to rest during the process.

The newspaper reports the video shows Coltrain less than an hour later lying in the fetal position and suddenly becoming rigid. She then convulses for several minutes and stops moving around 6:30 p.m. At around 12:30 a.m., Gulcynski found her unresponsive.