'I want to find out why my daughter is dead:' Father of Lina Odom opens up

The investigation into the death of a 28-year-old Jacksonville woman under Jacksonville Sheriff's Office custody continues.

Action News Jax first  told you about it on Saturday afternoon.

JSO says Lina Odom experienced medical distress yesterday. She was evaluated at the medical clinic on-site, and then taken to a local hospital, where she died.

Her father spoke to Action News Jax Courtney Cole and he says witnesses inside the jail tell him a different story.

Daniel Odom said that while she had been asking for medical attention but they refused to acknowledge her.

He believes if the staff here would have really tried to help, she would be alive today.

He showed us a picture of his daughter in her gray and red sweatshirt, which is how Daniel remembers her.

It’s a very different image than the mug shot released by JSO on the afternoon of Saturday, April 28th.

"If that was my daughter, I believe they must have taken the picture after she was deteriorating, " Daniel told Action News Jax.

Daniel asked not be shown on camera, out of fear of backlash from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

He told Action News Jax Courtney Cole he didn’t even know she died until he saw it on the news.

Since the story aired, Daniel said witnesses have reached out to him, telling him what they saw happen inside the detention facility  on Saturday morning.

"She was sick. She fell in the shower and then the guards told the group of people to leave her alone,” Daniel said.

He said she was then moved to a bed, with a blanket to cover her body.

"And then a little while later, they hauled her away in a wheelchair, but she was already dead by then.”

Now it's been more than 24 hours and he said he still hasn't been given the opportunity to I.D. his daughter's body.

"I want to try to get to the bottom and find out why my daughter is dead today. And why nobody else has reached out to me from the facility that was holding her, that was responsible for her. That was in their custody,” Daniel said.

Action News Jax has requested the autopsy report for Lina Odom.

Cox Media Group