HIV+ Prisoner “Denied Meds & Water” Died, US Jail Accused of Neglect
Paul Wright
Holly Barlow-Austin was just 46 when she died in hospital with fungal meningitis after being “denied meds and water” by the for-profit jail in Texas, where she was held in “deplorable and inhumane conditions of confinement,” lawyers for her family stated in a case filed this week, according to reports in The New York Tines. Holly had HIV which had been effectively managed by medication prior to be taken into custody in April 2019 for violating the terms of her probation. She also had ongoing mental health issues which were also being managed by medication prior to her time in the BI-State Jail in Texakarna, Texas. The legal action names LaSalle Corrections ( the private company contracted to run the jail), jail employees and Bowie County, Texas as defendants in the case.
Jail employees are alleged to have not administered her full meds regime which led to Holly becoming ill to the point in late May where “she could no longer walk or stand and her vision was badly impaired” per legal papers filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Holly was placed in a medical observation cell in early June before being taken to a hospital on 11th June. Holly died of fungal meningitis on 17th June. The lawsuit contends that Holly`s health had deteriorated to such an extent that it was too late to save her life. Video monitoring footage of her what were to be her last days in jail showed Holly to be undernourished and extremely weak and that she was being denied sufficient water according the to the family`s lawyer Erik J. Heipt. “The only way I was able to know, for example, that [Holly] only had three small cups of water during 48 hours is because I watched all 48 hours,” Heipt told The Washington Post. “If you look at just the medical records provided by the company, LaSalle, you would have no idea of her blindness, inability to walk, difficulty even crawling or malnourished state.”
He added that “her last 48 hours [in custody] were tantamount to torture,” said Erik J. Heipt.
“For years, LaSalle has been neglecting and abusing inmates, disregarding their fundamental constitutional rights and engaging in other cruel and inhumane acts and practices,” the Barlow-Austin suit states, adding that her case “goes to the very heart of everything that’s wrong with the privatization of America’s county jails.”
LaSalle Correcions and Bowie County officials were contacted by the Times and the Post but no comments were forthcoming from either.
