Sheriff’s office investigating stay of former inmate who died

Published 10:27 am Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Detectives at the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the stay of a former inmate who died last week, more than a month after she was transported from the jail to a hospital with an unknown illness.

Amanda Triplett, 29, died Aug. 5 at The Ohio State University Medical Center. Triplett’s obituary stated she lived in Coal Grove, but information from the sheriff’s office indicates she had an Ironton address.

“On these situations I have the detectives do an internal investigation to see what happened from the time she was here to the time she left to ensure that care was provided,” Lawless said.

Email newsletter signup

“We’re saddened about the news and our prayers go out to the family but there’s no indication that the sheriff’s office or the jail had done anything to contribute to this unfortunate incident.”

Triplett was arrested and taken to the county jail on July 2 on charges of domestic violence. Three days later the woman was transported by ambulance to a local medical facility. It is unclear if she was hospitalized the entire time between her release from jail and her death.

The sheriff said Triplett appeared to become ill and was transported to an area hospital.

“I haven’t spoken with the officer (who called the ambulance) but from the log, she became sluggish in her speech and she was not as responsive as she once was so they called an ambulance to have her checked out,” Lawless said.

During her time in the jail, Triplett had been aggressive with other inmates and would yell and scream at them, Lawless said.

“She at no point was unconscious. She was yelling and screaming,” Lawless said. “I don’t want to upset the family, but I don’t want the public to think she was unconscious the whole time.”

It is unclear what the medical reasons were for Triplett to be transported to the medical center, Lawless said.

Authorities do not know the cause of Triplett’s death at this time.

Triplett’s sister, Jammie Triplett, was contacted Tuesday but declined to comment. She said it was terrible what happened to her sister but that she did not want to discuss it publicly.

At the time of her arrest, Triplett was allegedly hitting her mother and screaming, according to the incident report of her arrest. Triplett had had a previous domestic violence charge, which made the July 2 charge a fifth-degree felony, Lawless said.

“It appeared that she was under the influence of something. Without a toxicology report I don’t know what,” Sheriff Jeff Lawless said.

The woman’s eyes were dilated and her speech was slurred according to the incident report, Lawless said.