The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office has identified the woman who died at the Cuyahoga County Jail Sunday morning as Jennifer Wade, a 41-year-old woman from Cleveland.
Wade was being held in the mental health unit at the jail because of “preexisting medical conditions.” The medical examiner’s office did not show a cause of death as of Monday morning and the county, in a press release, only said “the incident does not appear to be related to illegal substance use.”
“At approximately 4:00 a.m., a female inmate was found unresponsive in her cell in the Mental Health Unit of the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center,” said county spokesperson Jennifer Ciaccia. “Medical aid was rendered by Corrections Center medical staff. The 41-year-old female was transported to MetroHealth medical center for treatment, where she was pronounced deceased.”
Wade was being held at the jail while facing a felony charge of “harassment with a bodily fluid” based on an incident in July, 2024 filed by Cleveland Clinic Police and originating in Garfield Heights Municipal Court.
She initially posted bond following her Sept. 5, 2024, arrest, but at a subsequent court hearing was referred to the court’s psychiatric clinic for evaluation. The psychiatric clinic found she was incompetent to stand trial without treatment.
At an Oct. 29, court hearing, the court ordered inpatient care for Wade, but because no beds were available at North Coast Behavioral Health Center in Northfield, she was sent to the county jail until one became available.
The county has not responded to questions about whether an inpatient bed at North Coast was ever found.
Wade had an active profile on Facebook, where she spoke about her struggles with mental illness. Her last post, on Sept. 5, 2024, said “I’m tired of Cleveland Clinic putting me in jail.”
An issue with high demand for psychiatric beds in Ohio is not a new one.
A recent report from the think tank Policy Matters Ohio found that between 2019 and 2023, involuntary commitments at the state’s six psychiatric hospitals dropped by two-thirds.
That’s in part because more than 90% of the beds at those hospitals were taken by people, like Wade, sent by a judge for a psychiatric evaluation before trial, not for treatment before entering the criminal justice system, the report says.
