Reatha Sue Robinson was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver when she first entered Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Texas, on January 1, 2022. The jail’s medical staff began monitoring her condition from the outset of her incarceration. The medical staff noticed on September 13, 2022, that her condition had worsened. She was transported to Texoma Medical Center for additional testing and was admitted. While there, she developed sepsis, pneumonia, and several other life-threatening conditions. Tragically, while still in the hospital, she was pronounced deceased on September 24, 2022.

Stage One—Sepsis and Stage Two—Severe Sepsis

Sepsis has been described fully throughout this series (see links to previous installments below). Severe sepsis occurs if stage one sepsis remains untreated or is unresponsive to treatments. The condition is often identified when the function of an organ has been affected. To confirm a diagnosis of severe sepsis, one or more of the following conditions must present itself:

• Changes in cognitive ability
• Urination decreases
• Patches of discolored skin
• Irregular heart functions
• Trouble breathing
• Low platelet (blood-clotting cells) count
• Loss of consciousness
• Low body temperature resulting in chills
• Severe weakness
• The fingers, lips, or toes have a bluish discoloration

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this ongoing series.

Providing helpful resources for Texas inmates now or previously incarcerated in a county or municipal jail in the state is the purpose of this website. Making insinuations that anyone or any institution has been a participant in wrongdoing is never an intention on this website.

–Guest Contributor