Raynette Turner: Mother of 8 threw up hours before death in custody
It does not appear that police sought any additional medical treatment for Raynette Turner at that time.
- Turner taken back to police cell after throwing up in court holding area
- After waiting 2 days for arraignment, Turner wasn't on court calendar because paperwork unfinished
The woman who died Monday at Mount Vernon police headquarters after two days in custody had been returned to her city cell after throwing up in a holding area near the courtrooms where police had brought her to await arraignment, a court official said Friday.
It does not appear that police sought any additional medical treatment for Raynette Turner at that time, even though she had also spent two hours at a hospital the night before after complaining of not feeling well.
Richard Burke, the deputy police commissioner, said Tuesday that the holding cell is not a jail that would be able to provide medical attention.
"We typically take any prisoner back to the hospital for any type of treatment," he said.
Turner, 42, a mother of eight who had been arrested on a shoplifting charge Saturday afternoon, was found dead in her downstairs cell at about 2 p.m. Monday, according to officials. Police said she had last been seen alive between noon and 1 p.m.
Lt. Richton Ziadie said during a tour of the facility Friday night that anyone being held in a cell is supposed to be checked on every 15 minutes by someone walking by the cells. When asked why there was reportedly at least an hour between Turner being checked on Monday, he referred further questions to the commissioner's office. Officials were not available Friday or Saturday to comment, police said.
An autopsy was inconclusive and the Westchester Medical Examiner’s Office is awaiting results of toxicology and microbiology tests that could take several weeks.
EDITORIAL: Schneiderman must probe death of Raynette Turner in Mount Vernon jail
David Bookstaver, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, said court officers and staff never had any contact with Turner, whose name was never placed on Monday’s court calendar because her paperwork had not been completed by police and prosecutors.
It was unclear whether police brought her back to the downstairs cell because she was ill or because she had not yet been scheduled for arraignment.
“She remained in police custody (while in the holding area),” Bookstaver said. “She was brought upstairs. She threw up and she was taken back downstairs.”
Bookstaver was not certain when that was or how long Turner was in the upstairs holding area.
Reactions: See what others are saying about Raynette Turner's death
Questions: Mount Vernon death brings national attention
The supervisor of a screener who saw Turner earlier that same day told The Journal News on Thursday that the screener said Turner seemed nauseous at the time, but did not show signs of any serious medical problems.
City officials have said Turner suffered from hypertension - high blood pressure - and had undergone bariatric surgery about a year earlier.
Community activist Samuel Rivers on Friday criticized police for not taking Turner back to the hospital after she threw up Monday. He also called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Turner’s death, suggesting neither the city nor the state Attorney General could be trusted to conduct a fair probe.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office is reviewing Turner’s death to determine whether it fits the criteria of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent executive order making Schneiderman a special prosecutor in police-related deaths. Mount Vernon Mayor Ernie Davis has also said he is putting together an internal team to review the matter.
City officials have repeatedly refused to answer further questions on the case, including why someone decided to hold Turner rather than releasing her on the misdemeanor charge.
Her family had not announced funeral plans as of Friday afternoon.