- May 7, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
A Palm Coast woman died in custody Sunday, March 13 after having "an apparent seizure" at the Flagler County jail. Kathleen Feiler, 57, had been arrested over suspicion of not attending a court-ordered drug treatment program, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office news release.
Paramedics took Feiler to Florida Hospital Flagler, where she died, according to the news release. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate her death.
Deputies arrested Feiler at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, March 12 on a court order issued March 9 by Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman. The March 9 "show-cause" order required Feiler to be held at the county jail while a court hearing was scheduled to determine if she was in "indirect contempt of court" for not following through with a Feb. 3 order to obtain drug abuse treatment.
Feiler "is in need of substance abuse treatment and will not seek such treatment on her own volition,’’ according to the order signed by Foxman.
Feiler had been prescribed anti-anxiety medication March 4, and had "been found abusing them on multiple occasions,’’ according to Foxman's order.
She was taken into custody under the Baker Act — which allows law enforcement officers to detain people thought to be a danger to themselves or others — on March 6.
She'd been arrested just once before in Flagler County — in September of 2012, on a DUI with property damage or personal injury charge — to which she pleaded guilty, according to county jail and court records.
When she arrive at the jail March 12, jail staff reported to Sr. Cmdr. Sam Ferris that Feiler "showed no signs of being intoxicated or otherwise medically altered when she arrived at the jail," according to the release.
If she'd shown signs of been intoxicated or medically altered, deputies would have taken Feiler to the hospital for medical clearance, rather than straight to the jail, according to the release.
At about 1:28 a.m., deputies in cellblock D, where Feiler was held, "noticed Feiler making loud noises at 1:28 a.m., and she appeared to be having a seizure and was unresponsive," according to the release.
The jail staff called for a "Code White" — signaling a medical emergency — called emergency medical personnel, and rolled Feiler on her right side to keep her from choking until paramedics arrived and took her to Florida Hospital Flagler, according to the release.
Feiler was pronounced dead at the hospital at 3:37 a.m., or "roughly an hour after the medical emergency was observed, taking into account the time change due to daylight saving time," according to the release.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, March 14, and toxicology tests will take two or three months, according to the release.
FDLE agents interviewed county jail staff and inmate witnesses March 13, and the Sheriff's Office will give the FDLE body camera footage from Feiler's arrest, according to the release.
