Woman who died in custody had cardiac arrest, showed ‘seizure-like’ symptoms

Published 3:00 pm Friday, June 23, 2023

A woman who died at the Jackson County Jail in November experienced a cardiac arrest while showing “seizure-like” symptoms, the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Criminal charges will not be filed in the death of Sabrina Renee Decker, a 34-year-old Central Point resident who, according to media reports at the time, suffered a medical episode while in custody.

The district attorney’s office said Decker had fentanyl in her system — though not enough that would typically cause an overdose — when she died.

Decker had been lodged for over a week after getting caught with an ounce of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated to be “up to 50 times stronger than heroin.”

The Jackson County Major Assault and Death Investigations unit collected evidence surrounding her death.

Footage from Nov. 4, the day of her arrest, “shows Ms. Decker crushing pills on the floor of her cell with a spoon and also having a baggie of pills” that she had hidden in her vagina when she was arrested, the release said.

A long history of drug use had contributed to her poor health, the district attorney’s office said in a release.

“Chronic drug use caused significant health issues for Ms. Decker,” Sheriff Nathan Sickler said in an interview.

After 10 p.m. on Nov. 13, a jail deputy noticed vomit in the cell Decker shared with two inmates. Decker was moved to a bench, and the deputy sought a crew to clean up the cell, the release said.

“When the deputy came back to Ms. Decker she was leaning back on the bench with her hands clenched into fists,” the release said.

As arrangements were made to take her to the hospital, deputies “lowered her to the ground and laid her on a mat,” the release said.

Several doses of Narcan — a nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses — chest compressions and shocks from an automated external defibrillator did not improve her condition, the release said.

Personnel from the Medford Fire Department and Mercy Flights also tried to revive her, the release said.

At 10:45 p.m., Decker was declared dead.

“Our thoughts go out to her family,” Sickler said. “And it’s tragic, and it would be great if people who had addiction issues would seek services as soon as they can.”

In 2022, the jail saw 11 drug overdoses reversed with Narcan, according to jail figures.