Veronica Nelson, an Aboriginal woman who died in a Victorian prison, appealed for help 49 times in the 36 hours before she died. What occurred?
People that knew Veronica Nelson liked and respected her. She died alone in her cell at the Dame Phyllis Frost Center in January 2020, despite pleading for help for several hours, according to the coroner.
The next day, she was discovered on a cell floor in a jail built on Wurundjeri and Bunurong land.
Her family is asking with the state government to move quickly and make changes since fatalities in jail are “all too familiar” in the Indigenous community.
Veronica Nelson Case: 37-Year-Old Died In Custody- What occurred?
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Veronica’s death occurred in January 2020, and the case has been rippling through the legal world for several years, with the Victorian Coroner’s Court issuing the final decision.
There is universal agreement that Victoria’s bail laws must be altered, particularly in light of the sad hearings and outcomes.
Veronica lived in Collingwood’s public housing and had run into trouble with the cops after stealing vitamins from pharmacies.
Throughout the two nights she spent in the cells before her death, she frequently cried for help over the intercom, saying things like, “I feel queasy. “I’m spitting up.”
Nelson got multiple messages, including one telling her not to ask when she would see a doctor and that no one could help her with her worsening cramping and vomiting.
According to video and audio evidence presented at the inquest, Veronica made nine additional requests for help over the prison’s intercom system during her last hours, including two that investigators described as disturbing as she wailed in anguish.
Jail authorities ordered her to stop crying since her cries woke up other detainees.
When Veronica’s body was discovered on the floor three hours later, cold and nude, the shower was running and the cell was flooded.
She was also curled up in a fetal position, her hands like sharp claws. The responding paramedics assumed she had died for some time.
What Caused Veronica Nelson’s Arrest?
Veronica Nelson was apprehended after being charged with theft. According to 9news, she was also detoxing from heroin while in detention.
Aunty Donna believes her daughter was on her way home to Yorta Yorta nation when she was arrested at Southern Cross Station on December 30, 2019, after exiting a tram with her brother Duane.
The Police thought Duane’s duffel bag was weird, but Veronica was eventually apprehended and appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court the next day.
Her bail was denied because she appeared in court without legal representation. She was taken to the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, a maximum-security women’s prison.
Veronica weighed 33 lbs and was suffering from heroin withdrawal when jail authorities noticed her slim figure.
The 37-year-old patient, whose medical records were riddled with errors, was escorted to the medical wing and placed in a holding cell after a 13-minute examination by a doctor.
Veronica called out for help about 30 times on an intercom bell during the next few hours as she puked and suffered cramping in her hands and feet.
As her illness worsened, she was relocated to a general population cell. Unfortunately, she died in prison.
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