Baby dies after jail inmate goes into labor

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Erica Thompson, 25, was arrested on August 9, 2021, on a warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of driving while her license was suspended or revoked. She went into labor while at the jail, and the baby later died, but her story and the story from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office have significant differences.

According to a social media post from Thompson, she was pregnant and having contractions; she had gone to the hospital the previous day, where she was told she wasn’t dilated. She continued having contractions while in the jail, and she says “nobody wanted to listen.” She was arrested around 9:30 a.m., and according to her post, she was “screaming and crying begging them to help me” by 7:00 or 8:00 p.m., “and none of the guards or nurses paid me no mind.” She wrote that the nurse rolled her eyes and seemed aggravated, telling her that the hospital told them she wasn’t dilated yet. But Thompson claims the nurse never examined her or checked whether she was dilated while she was in the jail. Thompson wrote that she delivered her baby by herself around 11:00 p.m. and her daughter died in her arms at the hospital. Thompson was later released on her own recognizance.

A statement from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office is substantially different; they say that Thompson was housed in the infirmary. The statement continues, “While in jail, Ms. Thompson went into premature labor. EMS was summoned to the scene, but the child was delivered with assistance from medical and detention staff prior to their arrival. Ms. Thompson and her child were both transported to a local hospital for further medical treatment. Unfortunately, the child later passed away at the hospital and we are deeply saddened by Ms. Thompson’s experience of the loss of her child. As is customary, Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr. and his team are fully investigating the incident and the Office of Professional Standards is conducting an administrative review, which includes video footage, to ensure proper procedures were followed in caring for Ms. Thompson and her child.”

The case originated with a citation on February 7, 2021, for driving with a suspended or revoked license. A note on the citation says the license was suspended in 2017. The citation stated that she was required to appear in court, and as the case proceeded through the court system, she failed to appear for an arraignment, which led to a warrant for her arrest.