Woman who gave birth alone on floor of a Maryland jail says her screams were ignored by staff
A woman who gave birth to her baby alone on the dirty concrete floor of her jail cell after six hours in labour claims her screams for help were ignored by staff.
Jazmin Valentine is suing the company that provided medical staff to Washington County jail in Hagerstown, Maryland, alleging nurses from Pennsylvania-based PrimeCare Medical, Inc, said she was withdrawing from drugs and was not in labour, and some jail staff laughed at her and said she was just trying to get out of her cell.
Ms Valentine claims she punched the walls of her solitary confinement unit, which lacked blankets or sheets, during her most painful contractions and removed what she believed was her baby’s amniotic sac and slid it under her cell door to prove she was having a baby.
A fellow inmate who heard the woman’s pleas and called Ms Valentine’s boyfriend, who called the jail to plead with staffers to help her, the lawsuit said.
The nurses also ignored a concern raised by a jail deputy about Ms Valentine but he did not contact any superiors, according to the lawsuit.
He discovered Ms Valentine holding her baby girl in her cell around 15 minutes after she was born just after midnight on 4 July, 2021 and an ambulance was called to take them to hospital, the court documents say.
Ms Valentine, who had never given birth before, said she feared her baby would die and she might bleed to death while delivering her.
But realising no one was going to help her, she said she was determined to try to deliver the baby on her own.
“In my brain anything could happen,” she said. “I felt like I was in the hands of the devil, honestly.”
The lawsuit alleges Washington County, Maryland, its sheriff department and sheriff, as well as nurses and deputies at the jail, violated Ms Valentine’s rights under state law and the US Constitution.
Ms Valentine was more than eight months pregnant when she was arrested for an alleged probation violation and taken to the jail the day before she went into labour, according to the lawsuit.
She was released several days later and her baby is doing well, she said.
The claim is similar to another filed in 2019 by a woman who gave birth alone in Denver’s jail the year before – who claimed nurses and deputies ignored her cries for help during five hours of labour.
Diana Sanchez cries out in agony as she goes into labour
Surveillance footage showed Diana Sanchez crying out in agony before eventually lying on a narrow bed.
The footage was released by the same law firm which is now representing Ms Valentine.
After Ms Sanchez delivered her baby the Denver County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jail, said it changed its policy to ensure pregnant inmates who are in any stage of labour are immediately taken to hospital. Decisions about whether to move a pregnant inmate were previously left to jail nurses.
Ms Sanchez gave birth to her baby son alone before a nurse walked in and picked up the baby
David Lane, whose law firm is involved in both cases, said he believes they highlight problems of privatising health care behind bars and the attitudes of correctional administrators.
“As long as jail and prison administrators view inmates as animals these kinds of things will continue to happen,” he said.
There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.
He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.
At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.
People comforted each other in Kerville. Pic: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP
The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.
The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.
Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.
Camp Mystic
Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.
The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.
Hanna Lawrence, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right. Pic: John Lawrence/AP
Lila Bonner (L) and Eloise Peck both died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Chloe Childress. Pic: Debra Alexander Photography via AP
Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.
There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.
Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.
Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Camper’s belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic.
Pic: Reuters
‘Everything looked flooded and broken’
One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”
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She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.
Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.
“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”
Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.
Lucy Kennedy, 10 who was rescued from Camp Mystic, and her mother Wynne. Pic: NBC
Political row
Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.
Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.
Read more:
Sisters killed in Texas flooding found holding hands
Why did deadly Texas floods catch people by surprise?
Wall of water
The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.
The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.
Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.
The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.
Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court after the verdict was delivered. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.
After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.
Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.
Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.
During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.
Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.
“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.
Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.
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