Cheree Byrd, 35, gave birth to an infant at the Onondaga County jail. The infant was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. Credit: Provided by Renee Speed

A state medical review board found that the care of a pregnant mother at the Onondaga County jail was “deficient and negligent” and may have led to the death of the woman’s infant who was born at the jail, according to a report from the New York State Commission of Correction. 

The medical review board’s finding was detailed in a report on the death of Ayanna Byrd, an infant who died after being born at the jail. SCOC releases reports on the deaths of incarcerated people in jails across the state. 

Ayanna died Aug. 2, 2022, more than 18 months ago, shortly after being born.

The report found that jail staff failed to properly examine Cheree Byrd, Ayanna’s mother, after Cheree repeatedly told staff over six days she was in labor, the report said.

At the time, Central Current reported Cheree’s pleas for help, which appear to be confirmed by the state’s report. Three incarcerated women came forward at the time to draw attention to the fact that Cheree had told staff for at least two days she was in labor and did not receive care. 

“(Cheree) Byrd was not properly assessed nor timely transferred to a hospital over the course of 6 days during which she made multiple reports of being in labor,” the report read. 

The state’s report sheds light on Cheree’s care over the month that she was held at the jail. She was being held at the jail on petit larceny charges and $5,000 bail. 

The state’s report repeatedly slammed care provided by nurses and doctors from Proactive Health Care Medicine and Naphcare, the companies the county then contracted with to provide healthcare at the jail. 

It does not speak to deputies’ potential role in Cheree’s care. According to the report, Proactive Health Care Medicine disputed the medical review board’s findings. Proactive Health Care Medicine did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Within three months of Ayanna’s death, the county put the contract for its jail healthcare out to bid. Jail healthcare is now handled by Wellpath Care, formerly known as Correct Care Solutions. 

The state’s report found that Cheree had been asking for help for much longer than two days. The report found: 

  • For six days, Cheree reported to jail staff that her water had broken and that her baby’s head was in the birth canal. The report found no documentation exists that a physician was notified about Cheree’s claims beyond an initial report. 
  • The medical review board found no documentation that a physician was ever notified of Byrd reporting labor pains three days before she gave birth. 
  • A half-dollar sized mark of clear fluid was found on Cheree’s bed sheets after she on July 27 reported her water broke. Jail healthcare staff did not have Cheree see an on-call provider after this, the report said.  
  • In the month Cheree was in jail, she never finished an intake screening with medical staff. Rather than ask Cheree to finish the screening each day, as is policy per the report, she was only reapproached once about finishing the screening. 
  • Cheree “exhibited signs of active psychosis and delusional behavior,” the report said, but did not receive a full psychiatric evaluation nor was she prescribed psychotropic medication until her 12th day in jail. 
  • The medical care and treatment of Cheree were “deficient and negligent and may have led to her child’s death.”
  • Her care “could be attributed to implicit bias of an individual with serious and persistent mental illness by dismissing her complaints and behavior,” the report read. Cheree’s mother Renee Speed at the time told Central Current that Byrd had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. 

The Byrds’ case was not the first in which the state found issues with healthcare at the jail under NaphCare and Proactive Health Care Medicine. Deficiencies were also cited after the deaths of Kevin Gilooly and Angela Peng.

Gilooly died of natural causes in January 2021 while at the jail. He had a buildup of plaque in his arteries and hypertension that was poorly managed by the jail’s medical staff, the state found. 

Peng died by suicide in September 2021 at the jail. She suffered from withdrawal and vomited and defecated on herself while in jail. Medical staff never did a toxicology report on Peng, according to a state report. To deal with withdrawal pain, hospital staff gave her fentanyl, according to the report. Peng had been detoxing from the use of fentanyl and methamphetamines, the report said. 

While the state’s report on Cheree’s death slammed NaphCare and Proactive Health Care Medicine, it came a full year after the county changed its jail healthcare provider. 

The report offered few solutions and recommendations beyond more extensive review of policies and care for Cheree at the jail.

Byrd and her family have filed a lawsuit against NaphCare, Onondaga County and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office in New York State Supreme Court. The family alleges they denied Cheree basic human needs and have made a wrongful death claim because of Ayanna’s death. 

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Chris Libonati is the managing editor of Central Current. He is a founding editorial member of the organization and was hired as Central Current's first reporter. He previously worked at the Syracuse Post-Standard...