EVERETT, Wash. — Family members are outraged their daughter died Thursday inside the Snohomish County Jail.
Melissa Bradford from Tulalip was the 10th inmate to die in the jail in four years.
Bradford’s parents said the county never told them that their 42-year-old daughter died. Instead, other inmates told their families, who in turn notified the Bradfords.
Bradford was booked into the jail Wednesday on fourth-degree domestic violence assault charges, according to her parents. They said Bradford slapped her sister.
But when they made calls to find out how their daughter died at the jail’s medical unit, they said they got nowhere.
The Sheriff's Department said Bradford was checked into the drug and alcohol withdrawal watch in the medical unit.
Several of the previous deaths had drug or alcohol withdrawals as contributing factors.
The jail has come under federal review for claims of poor medical care and the county was also recently sued for $10 million by the family of 22-year-old inmate Michael Saffioti.
Saffioti died in 2012.
He was booked for misdemeanor pot possession and the jail staff was aware that he had a severe allergy to dairy.
Surveillance footage shows Saffiotti asking whether the food was dairy-free and then eating it. He immediately became ill and tried to alert the jail staff by hitting the call button.
He was later found unconscious.
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