‘Didn’t deserve to die alone.’ 23-year-old ignored by jail until her death, GA suit says

A 23-year-old woman died of an untreated overdose in her Georgia jail cell after her desperate pleas for medical help — and her mother’s attempts to secure help for her — were ignored by jailers, according to her family’s lawsuit that has now been settled for millions.

Officers repeatedly refused Olivia Hannah when she asked for medical attention, to take a shower and to change out of her clothes at the East Point Jail in Fulton County, after she was arrested for shoplifting at Walmart in 2021, a complaint says. They also denied her menstrual products she had asked for after she started menstruating while detained, according to the complaint.

Hannah was kept in solitary confinement while jailers knew she had recently taken drugs and was experiencing withdrawal symptoms, according to her family’s attorneys. She was isolated from other detainees because of COVID-19 concerns, the complaint says.

After she was booked in jail on April 7, 2021, a nurse screened Hannah and told supervising officers that Hannah, who was “experiencing severe pain all over her body,” should be taken to another facility, according to the complaint. The jailers, however, were accused of ignoring the nurse’s suggestion.

“Olivia was a loving daughter with her whole life ahead of her,” Melinda Pitts, Hannah’s mother, said in an Oct. 16 news release issued by Spears & Filipovits law firm, which represented the case.

“She made a mistake, but she didn’t deserve to die alone and in pain,” Pitts said.

On Hannah’s second day in jail, she was in medical distress, experiencing pain and “sweating profusely,” according to the complaint.

At some point, Hannah consumed opiates she had hidden after officers, who are accused of not properly searching her or her cell, refused to let her change or get her help. According to her family’s attorneys, Hannah swallowed the drugs, which was later identified as fentanyl , in an effort to push jailers to get her medical attention.

Hannah then called her mother, telling her “she was desperate to go to the hospital but that the jailers were ignoring her” and that she had taken drugs, the complaint says.

Pitts repeatedly called the jail to get Hannah help, leading to one officer checking on Hannah, who told them that she had taken drugs, the complaint says.

Another officer then spoke with Pitts and assured her a “nurse was on the way to see” her daughter — but that “was false,” according to the complaint.

None of the jailers alerted a nurse or called for emergency medical services to help Hannah, who was found unresponsive, face down, the next morning on April 9, 2021, the complaint says.

Hannah had already died of an overdose ”long before” officers tried to revive her with CPR, according to the complaint.

The City of East Point has paid Hannah’s family $2.1 million to settle the lawsuit, which named the city and three officers as defendants, Spears & Filipovits announced in the release. The city’s jail is run by the East Point Police Department.

In a joint statement to McClatchy News, East Point Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham and the city’s police chief, Shawn Buchanan, said “the unfortunate death of Olivia Hannah has been a matter of priority for the City of East Point since the incident.”

“While Ms. Hannah’s concealment of drugs was a consequence of her own addiction, changes in the Police Department leadership in December 2021 has resulted in revisions to policies regarding the intake of inmates under the influence of drugs or alcohol which requires arrestees to be seen at Grady Hospital before being admitted to the jail,” the statement said.

‘More than just another victim of the opioid crisis’

The lawsuit says that Hannah, “like millions of other Americans,” had struggled with addiction.

But she was “more than just another victim of the opioid crisis ,” Spears & Filipovits said in the release.

Hannah loved to spend time with her family and loved children, the complaint says. She had helped raise her girlfriend’s son for three years before her death, according to Spears & Filipovits.

Hannah also enjoyed cooking, especially for her family during Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to the complaint.

“Overall, Hannah was a happy, outgoing, big-spirited young woman who loved to make people laugh,” the complaint says.

Jail is supposed to respond to medical emergencies

Before Hannah’s death, East Point Jail had a policy that required staff to inform other personnel of a medical emergency, the complaint says.

If a nurse wasn’t on duty, EMS had to be requested to respond to the emergency as part of the policy, according to the complaint.

The jail nurse wasn’t working at the time officers learned Hannah swallowed drugs, but EMS was never contacted, the complaint says.

Six months before Hannah’s death, another of the jail’s detainees died from an opioid overdose, according to the complaint.

“The City’s indifference to Olivia’s medical crisis deprived her of the opportunity for redemption that everyone deserves,” attorney Jeff Filipovits said in a statement.

The city’s mayor and police chief said in their statement that the jail has a new monitoring system in place and a defibrillator and Narcan , an opioid overdose reversal medication, available.

“New leadership has also contributed to improvements at the jail, which include but are not limited to, a renewed commitment to officer training and revised policies that are reflective of the City’s commitment to inmate safety,” the statement said.

Pitts said that “The officers’ failure to act robbed us of the chance to help (Hannah) overcome her addiction and build the future she dreamed of.”

“No family should have to endure this kind of loss,” Pitts added. “We hope that by speaking out, we can prevent other families from experiencing the same heartbreak.”

If you or a loved one shows signs of substance use disorder, you can seek help by calling the national hotline at 1-800-662-4357 or find treatment using SAMHSA's online locator.

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