Woman suffered brain damage
By Phil Parker
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Two years ago, employees of the Santa Fe County jail walked into the facility’s television room and discovered Nanette Romero hanging by her neck from a television cord. A lawsuit filed last week by Romero’s mother and son alleges the attempted suicide was the fault of the county, sheriff and jail staff.
Romero didn’t die in the attempt, the suit states, but suffered brain damage.
As a result of the attempted suicide, the suit states, “she has lost significant cognitive ability and is mentally retarded.” It goes on to say she will be severely disabled for the rest of her life.
A c ou nt y gover n ment spokesman had no comment on the lawsuit Monday.
Romero was booked on July 17, 2006, for aggravated assault against a household member, according to court documents. Despite informing staff of her methadone and heroine use, the suit states, Romero was cleared for housing in the general population.
Severe withdrawal symptoms kicked in, and by the next morning Romero was placed under suicide watch. She was moved to the medical unit, where she cut at her hands and wrists with a name badge, according to the lawsuit.
Two days later, doctors and other jail employees couldn’t agree on whether Romero should be on constant suicide watch, the suit states.
That day, the suit says, “it was noted on Nanette Romero’s chart that she was having trouble sleeping, appeared to have suicidal ideation, had not eaten that day, was dehydrated, and was going through substance abuse withdrawal.”
The next morning Romero was found wet and naked in her cell. She’d been taken by a corrections officer to wash herself in the shower room after claiming to have just given birth. Romero said she was pregnant when she was booked, but two pregnancy tests were negative, the lawsuit says.
It was then that employees noticed conf licting orders regarding Romero’s suicide watch on her chart, according to the lawsuit. The facility didn’t have proper “suicide garments” for Romero, so she was given the same uniform as the other inmates, the suit states, though an officer was told she needed to be under constant suicide watch.
Also, a “kick kit” used to soothe withdrawal pain was supposed to have been delivered to Romero at 6 that morning, but she was told she’d have to wait until noon to get it, the suit says.
Romero became irate, the lawsuit states. During an examination with a doctor shortly afterward, Romero wrote on a piece of paper “I love Christian (Romero’s son); I love my Mom and Brother; I love myself and others; I need to go to the back.”
Doctors were discussing Romero’s case shortly afterward when they asked a correctional officer where she was, the suit says. The officer said Romero was in the TV room, and three employees discovered Romero hanging there by the cord. Romero was not breathing when the staff managed to get her loose, the suit says, but she was revived through CPR.
The lawsuit cites numerous warnings over previous years that the Santa Fe jail “was dangerously understaffed, had insufficient policies and procedures, particularly in the area of suicide prevention, and that its training regarding suicide prevention was grossly inadequate.”
The suit says several reports had been delivered to the jail from “experts in the field of correctional institution mental health ... which had all been highly critical” of the facility.
Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal