ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis family says medical neglect and poor staffing led to the death of a 33-year-old woman in the St. Louis jail.
“All of the circumstances are somewhat suspicious,” the family’s lawyer Jack Spooner tells the FOX Files.
Spooner says the St. Louis City Justice Center has released almost no information about Kitrina Kelly’s death since the more than seven weeks since her death. She died on her tenth day in the jail.
“We just don’t get any answers,” Spooner said, “And everybody’s pointing the finger at somebody else, so the parents had no choice but to file the lawsuit.”
The St. Louis Police Department’s Force Investigation Unit – known as FIU – announced its involvement in the case on August 30. That was days after Kelly died. The FIU reported that District 4 officers got a call about what was reported to be a suicide and that officers were told by jail staff that the woman had “attempted to hang herself.”
Spooner said, “We’ve heard from somebody in the jail that Kitrina was in distress for about 30 minutes and that they were calling for help during those 30 minutes before somebody finally came and checked on her.”
Spooner says she was healthy and believes the death could have been prevented, like other recent cases we’ve reported. One of those cases is as 32-year-old Carlton Bernard who died in the St. Louis Justice Center in August 2023.
Bernard’s Mother, Shantae Winston, told us in September, “All they had to do was give him some insulin or just send him to the hospital.”
Bernard had diabetes. His autopsy says he died from lack of insulin and dehydration.
Winston added, “I never got to say goodbye to him the proper way.”
Spooner says his clients are too shaken to talk yet about their loved one, who had no known priors, according to FOX 2’s court record check.
She had been arrested for driving someone involved in a shooting. But Spooner questions whether the criminal charge was even going to stick.
“It’s not clear as to what Kitrina knew, if anything, about the shooting,” Spooner said.
The jail declined to comment citing the lawsuit. St. Louis Police says its FIU is still investigating.
