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Deputy, Nurse Disciplined In Florida Inmate Death

Prison corridor with inmates in distance
Associated Press
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

A deputy and a jail nurse have been disciplined after a Florida inmate overdosed on heroin and fentanyl. 

Lorraine Gardner died in September after authorities say an inmate in the suicide prevention room smuggled drugs in her genitals and gave them to 22-year-old Gardner, who ingested them and died.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports the inmate who gave Gardner the drugs has been charged with first-degree murder.

Detention Deputy Stephanie Rivera-Ortiz received a written reprimand for dereliction of duty. Nurse Laura Maldonado received written counseling for a policy violation.

An internal affairs report says the deputy incorrectly stated in a log that the inmates in the suicide precaution room had received medication when only two inmates actually had. The report says the nurse started passing out evening medications 30 minutes early and wrongly stated that Gardner had received hers.