Local families wanting answers after they say loved ones received improper in custody medical care

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two local families said their loved ones never received the proper medication while in-custody.

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Body camera footage shows 54-year-old Dexter Barry in the back of a police car. He tells an officer he takes rejection medicine for his heart transplant, and he cannot miss any doses.

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According to an arrest report, Barry was arrested last November for simple assault, and jail records show he was released two days later on bond.

Three days after that, he died at the hospital.

“He went for two days without his medication,” Andrew Bonderud, Barry’s family attorney, said.

Bonderud said that Barry was not given the expensive, anti-rejection medication that he relied on while in-custody, and this is what he said about the inmate health services:

“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office relies on a third-party contractor to provide inmate health services,” Bonderud said. “They have since 2017.”

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Action News Jax reached out to the JSO regarding Barry’s case, but it was not able to provide any comment due to pending litigation.

Bonderud said they are planning to file a lawsuit.

Another inmate’s family said they went through something similar.

Jail records show Meghann Rake was arrested for battery last Friday and released two days later on bond.

Lisa Castro said Rake, her daughter, a diabetic of 15 years, went into diabetic ketoacidosis because she wasn’t given the correct insulin dosage while in custody.

“I want them to be held accountable,” Castro said. “She’s 27 years old, she has a three-year-old, she has her whole life ahead of her and it could have been cut short because of negligence and really not treating them as humans’ period.”

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JSO told Action News Jax Alexus Cleavenger they were not made aware of this incident.