The family of Ashley Raisbeck, a 27-year-old woman who died in the Jefferson County Detention Facility in 2023, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, claiming that facility staff caused her death.
Raisbeck died Dec. 16, 2023, three days after her initial jail booking. An autopsy report found she died of intussusception, a condition where part of the intestine slides into another section. Authorities considered her manner of death as natural causes.
Two years later, a family lawyer says the facility and others involved were negligent and indifferent to her medical needs.
Raisbeck was arrested by Wheat Ridge police on a warrant for false reporting, to which she pleaded guilty, and began a 28-day sentence in the Jefferson County jail. At the time of her arrest, records show she was in possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Attorney Anita Springsteen said Raisbeck suffered from substance use disorder. According to a letter from Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King, Raisbeck was on a “detox protocol” to address apparent withdrawal symptoms.
That same letter cleared deputies of responsibility in her death, citing findings from a Critical Incident Response Team investigation.
Springsteen said the investigation unnecessarily shames Raisbeck for her substance use disorder and ignores a key detail: that Raisbeck was given an antibiotic in the days leading up to her death — and on the day she died — despite formally refusing the drug Cephalexin when she was booked at the facility in February 2023.
“She had refused this medication. Why? Because she knew she was allergic to it. She knew she was having a reaction,” Springsteen said. “She was getting 2,000 milligrams of this medication she was allergic to daily.”
The lawsuit claims the nurse practitioner did not follow protocol for monitoring a patient after administering the drug and also gave her twice the recommended dosage.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Springsteen said VitalCore Health Strategies — the health care provider the facility contracts with — is also at fault, claiming the company has had several instances of people acting beyond their scope. In Vermont, a doctor is currently suing the company, alleging his name was forged on a policy and procedures document.
According to the investigation, Raisbeck was in the process of being transferred to the medical unit when she became unresponsive.
Medical staff gave her IV fluids, several rounds of Narcan and called an ambulance. Raisbeck became unresponsive during the ride to the hospital and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
