Just as the nation is still processing the mysterious jail deaths of Sandra Bland and Kindra Chapman, a similar occurrence took place with 37-year-old Ralkina Jones. Jones was found dead this past Sunday (July 26) in a Cleveland Heights jail cell, just as a weekend gathering of Black activists and organizers was ending in the city of Cleveland to combat racial injustice.
The details of Jones’ death are still developing, but what has been obtained by local outlet WKYC is that she was arrested Friday, July 24, outside of a retail store after fighting with her ex-husband, Brandon Jones. Ms. Jones broke out the windows of Mr. Jones vehicle and assaulted him with a tire iron. Mr. Jones attempted to walk away from the situation, and Ms. Jones followed him and another man while attempting her ex-husband down according to accounts.
Jones’ 12-year-old daughter was in the backseat of her car at the time, and she was arrested on charges of felonouis assault, domestic violence, and child endangerment. Jones was under medical care for a number of unlisted health conditions, which was documented by the Cleveland Heights City Jail. It was after a brief visit to a medical facility that the situation morphed into the discovery of her body on Sunday.
More from WKYC:
On Saturday, a jail administrator noticed that Ralkina appeared to be lethargic. Ralkina was taken to HealthSpan. She returned to the jail shortly before 11 p.m. that night.
Around 12:45 a.m., paramedics were called again to check her vitals. According to officials, everything appeared to be normal.
Ralkina was observed throughout the night during routine jail checks.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m., she was found unresponsive in her jail cell bed.
The Medical Examiner has now completed an autopsy and says the death doesn’t appear “suspicious,” but it remains under investigation.
The deaths of Bland, Chapman and now Jones signals a disturbing and perhaps coincidental trend, with their deaths just occurring weeks within each other. As a result, the social media hashtag “#SayHerName” has become a galvanizing call for those who are seeking answers in these cases.
As this story develops along with an ongoing investigation by local authorities, we will update this post with any information we can obtain.
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