Official video of holding cell in which Turner was held
WHITE PLAINS – A woman who died while in a holding cell at the
Mount Vernon Police Department last July died of natural causes due to
an enlarged heart caused by drug use, an autopsy determined.
Raynette Turner, 42, was picked up by police hours earlier for shoplifting.
Because of the circumstances surrounding her death in the lockup, State
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s Office of Special Investigations
and Prosecutions conducted a seven-month investigation and the AG announced
on Thursday that there was “no criminal culpability” in her
death.
Schneiderman, though, did propose several reforms to the processing, supervision,
and arraignment of arrestees including expanding the availability of video
conference arraignments to ensure that arrestees are arraigned promptly,
regardless of when an arrestee is taken into custody; increasing the number
of personnel authorized to fingerprint arrestees to speed the processing
of arrestees; upgrading Mount Vernon policies to require in-person cell
checks of arrestees, and; re-evaluating New York State minimum standards
for arrestees who may require medical attention.
Prior to Turner’s death, she told authorities she did not feel well
and wanted to go to the hospital. She was transported and returned to
the holding cell.
Investigators from the attorney general’s office interviewed more
than 40 witnesses, reviewed over 1,700 pages of medical records, including
autopsy and toxicology results, and examined video evidence covering virtually
the entire time Turner was in custody at the Mount Vernon Police Department.
