LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville woman who died while in the custody of a southern Indiana jail had bruises on her face, caught a fever and vomited before her death, according to a team of attorneys hired by her family.
The legal team that represents Breonna Taylor's family is now working with Ta'Neasha Chappell's family in the ongoing fight for answers in her death.
The new information released Wednesday came with calls to release footage from the Jackson County Jail showing what happened to Chappell.
Attorneys Sam Aguiar, Lonita Baker and Ben Crump released a statement revealing Chappell had a swollen and beaten face. They also claim the jail ignored the 23-year-old mom's medical needs as she vomited consistently and had a rising fever 24 hours before her death last Friday, July 16.
"I want the truth to be heard and told," Chappell's sister, Ronesha Murrell, told WDRB News in an interview surrounded by other relatives on Sunday. "We are owed that. My sister was in their care. Regardless as an inmate, they had a duty to protect her still."
A release from Indiana State Police said Chappell died shortly after being taken to the Schneck Medical Center. But authorities have not made public a cause of death. It was pending an autopsy.
Chappell's family wants the jail to release security footage showing what happened, saying she feared for her life in jail.
"She called numerous times ... over and over, saying that 'they are going to kill me. Get me out of here,' and she told us there was a lot of incidents that happened in that jail," Lavita McClain, Chappell's mother, said. "And they kept sticking her back in the same dorm like somebody cut her throat, they took her to medical and then someone put some kind of cleaning chemical in her pickle juice."
“The conditions at the Jackson County Jail are what we describe as cruel and unusual punishment,” said Baker during a press briefing with the family Thursday afternoon. “No human should be subjected to those conditions.
Aguiar, in a recent Facebook post, claims Chappell "never had a chance" and that the Jackson County Jail deprived her of basic needs and medical care.
Chappell was in jail on shoplifting charges and a crash after running from officers in May. Police said she was part of a group that stole thousands of dollars in merchandise from the Edinburg Outlet Mall.
The investigation into Chappell's death is still under investigation by Indiana State Police.
The Chappell family's legal team is working on getting an independent medical examination.
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