NEW JERSEY WOMAN COULD NOT FACE LIFE OUTSIDE OF JAIL

Inmate's death ruled a suicide after nail clipper, other objects found in stomach

By Caitlin Mota

The Jersey Journal
January 17, 2018

KEARNY, N.J. -- The death of a 48-year-old woman at the medical ward inside Hudson County jail has been ruled a suicide after an "abundant amount of foreign material" was found inside her stomach, her autopsy report revealed.

Jennifer Towle was serving a six-month sentence for DWI when she died on July 14. She spent her entire stay at the jail on suicide watch because of her diagnosis of depression and was two days away from being released from custody, according to medical records from the Office of the Attorney General.

The release of records surrounding Towle's death came just two days after a 38-year-old woman was found hanging, but still alive, at the jail and when a 41-year-old man awaiting sentencing collapsed and died.

The 38-year-old has been in extremely critical condition since the attempted suicide, sources say.

According to the Medical Examiner Investigative Data Sheet, a nurse found Towle unresponsive on the floor of her cell. She stayed in an isolated cell because she often refused to leave, the report says. Because she was on suicide watch, Towle was not wearing any clothes, according to the report that was obtained through an open public records request.

Towle's body was brought for an autopsy, where medical examiners found more than three liters of inedible material and a "minimal" amount of food in her stomach, the reports indicate. The average capacity of a human stomach is about one liter.

Items found inside her stomach included a nail clipper, an examination glove, Styrofoam, plastic, condiment packages, milk cartons, drink cartons, paper, a band-aid, a plastic bag and a cookie wrapper, the reports say. Doctors also found a non-food item stuck inside her esophagus.

The initial report, dated Sept. 19, did not determine a cause or manner of death, but later that day an amended report was filed ruling Towle's death a suicide. The cause was related to a perforated ulcer in her stomach from ingesting non-food items, the report states.

A county spokesman told The Jersey Journal in September that Towle was first being monitored every minute of the day until being "stepped down" by a mental health professional's orders, saying her constant observation was more harmful than good.

She was then housed in a room with a glass window where she could be seen by the nursing staff.

Because of her mental health diagnosis, Towle was evaluated to determine if she should be moved to a mental health care facility, which was not recommended by doctors from Jersey City Medical Center, the county said in the fall.

The medical staff at the jail - which is contracted through CFG Health Systems - believed they were providing Towle "the care she needed," county spokesman Jim Kennelly said in September. The county said it planned to review whether she did in fact receive the care she needed.

Asked for comment on the state's report, Kennelly declined to comment other than to say the findings "confirmed what was anticipated" to be a death by suicide.

The jail has faced heightened scrutiny, particularly surrounding its health services. Rolando Meza Espinoza, an immigrant detainee, was sent from the jail to Jersey City Medical Center after he experienced "gastrointestinal bleeding" and died two days later. His family only learned of his death when they called to check on him, a lawyer for the family previously said.

A medical review board was established by the county in response to the deaths of Meza Espinoza and Towle. Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea, who sits on the board, said in September he felt Towle likely should not have remained at the jail. Officials were "taking very seriously" the investigation into the mental health services provided at the jail, he said.

Reach by phone, O'Dea said the board has not seen the autopsy result yet, but said the county is in the process of improving the mental health ward for female inmates. Officials are expected to ask questions about last weekend's jail death and attempted suicide at a public safety meeting on Tuesday.