A 53-year-old woman died after being found unresponsive in her cell at Fairfax County’s jail on Tuesday, according to the Fairfax County sheriff’s office. Officials have not determined her cause of death, but police said in a press release that “foul play is not suspected.”
According to the Fairfax County sheriff’s office, jail staff found the woman – identified as 53-year-old Latasha Dove – unresponsive in her cell around 2:30 p.m. on August 1. First responders arrived and transported Dove to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 3:13 p.m.
Dove’s official cause of death is pending determination by the medical examiner’s office. Fairfax County police are also investigating the death.
Dove had been at the jail since July 26, approximately a week, according to Fairfax County police. She had been arrested for simple assault and destruction of property, and she was being held on bond and being represented by the public defender’s office. Fairfax County public defender Dawn Butorac told DCist via email that Dove’s case illustrates the flaws of the cash bail system.
“In Ms. Dove’s case, the judge knew she was indigent yet still set a cash bond. Because she was poor, she was forced to stay in jail,” Butorac said. “It’s patently unfair for someone’s wealth to determine whether they remain incarcerated or are free in the community. We advocated for her to be released on personal recognizance and the Commonwealth objected to her release. It is even more outrageous when you look at the alleged crime that she was arrested for–a destruction of property (the lowest level of felony) and a misdemeanor.”
Dove is the second person who’d been held at the Fairfax Adult Detention Center to die this year. Todd Matthew Gleason, 51, died shortly after his release from the jail in July. Butorac told Fairfax Now that Gleason had medical issues stemming from a car accident, but “his complaints were not taken seriously” by jail staff until the day before he died.
This story was updated with a statement from Dawn Butorac.
Jenny Gathright