(WDNews) Bay County, Florida The Bay County Sheriff’s Office reports that a 21-year-old woman passed away at the Bay County Jail a few days after being taken into custody on drug-related charges.
On July 2, 21-year-old Alexis Brianne Helton was taken into custody for methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. After around two days in custody, according to officials, she started exhibiting symptoms of a decrease in her mental state and was transferred to the jail’s medical unit for observation.
A statement from BCSO stated that Helton started to experience medical distress as her condition deteriorated. She stopped responding while medical personnel were getting her ready to be taken to the hospital. After performing CPR and successfully regaining her pulse, EMS personnel transported her to a nearby hospital. On July 5, she was subsequently declared deceased.
Prior to her arrest, Helton’s medical emergency seemed to be caused by substance addiction issues, according to the sheriff’s office. She did not report any recent drug or alcohol usage when she was booked or during subsequent medical evaluations, according to officials.
The official cause of death is being investigated by the District 14 Medical Examiner’s Office. In order to contact family members and collect information about her medical state, authorities postponed making the information public.
Helton had never been housed at the facility before, according to BCSO, and there was no record of any previous medical conditions.
According to jail officials, the Bay County Jail houses more than 1,100 inmates and books an estimated 13,000 people annually, many of whom have severe mental health or addiction problems.
