The episode “was a pandemic thing,” Cailler said. Wright, 50, had a history of alcohol abuse, hypertension, depression and was treated for an episode of delirium in 2020. That’s where she experienced a mental health emergency that led to her arrest and, ultimately, her death. Wright was the education chair for the Oklahoma Society of Accountants, which held its annual conference that weekend at the Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee. Cailler’s mind flooded with questions: Why was she in jail? What caused the bruises and broken bones? How could this happen? Wright had five broken ribs and was covered in bruises Cailler had never seen before.Ī doctor told Cailler that Wright was brain dead after she went into cardiac arrest three or four times in the ambulance that delivered her from the Pottawatomie County jail.

Anthony Hospital in Shawnee on July 10, 2021, her wife, Kellie Wright, was on life support. If there was ever a jail that needs to be under investigation by the U.S. “I have never experienced the kind of ruthless disrespect to families that I’ve seen from this jail, refusing to give them any information. “When you take the least of us and you treat them with this kind of disrespect to the point that it leads to their demise, that’s just inhumane,” said attorney Ronald “Skip” Kelly, who is suing the jail on behalf of one of the families. And it reported only two of the deaths to state regulators - all under the charge of jail director Breonna Thompson, better known by her middle name, Rochelle. It ignored families’ requests for medical records. Most of their families still don’t know why.Īn Oklahoma Watch investigation found that the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center withheld public records and defied court orders to produce them. Pottawatomie County jail officials apparently defied state laws and a judge’s order when they concealed information on the unexplained deaths of seven vulnerable detainees.Īll seven people arrived at the jail with medical and mental health or substance use complications that required care.

Cover-up Alleged in Pottawatomie County Jail Deaths - Oklahoma Watch Close

Hard rock casino drug bust tulsa