Rohde Brooke Barnett’s Death After Incarceration in Gillespie County Jail is Under Investigation
Rohde Brooke Barnett was booked into Gillespie County Jail at 7:16 PM on January 31, 2025. Tragically, she was pronounced deceased just three days later at 3:00 PM on February 3rd. The custodial death report (CDR) about Ms. Barnett was filed on March 11, 2025, by the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Department, six (6) days past the legal filing deadline. Ms. Barnett was arrested for public intoxication, and the intake officer noted that she appeared to be intoxicated on alcohol or drugs.
The summary of how Ms. Barnett’s allegedly occurred provides a grim picture of her experience in Gillespie County Jail, and the following are just some of the alleged details:
Ms. Barnett appeared to be extremely intoxicated when she was arrested by officers with the Fredericksburg Police Department and transported to the Gillespie County Jail. After a short time, before completion of the booking process, Ms. Barnett went unconscious. Ms. Barnett was placed on a jail mattress in a holding cell. As Ms. Barnett was seen throughout the night, jail staff tried to wake her up to finish intake by touching and gently shaking her shoulder. They received no response, but Ms. Barnett was breathing.
At about 4:00 AM on Saturday, February 1, 2025, jail staff made another effort to wake up Ms. Barnett as breakfast was being served. Supposedly just then recognizing that Ms. Barnett could possibly have a medical condition, jail staff vigorously tried to awaken her. Ammonia ampules were used as well as a Narcan injection. Jail staff then called the medical hotline provided by the jail’s medical provider. Ms. Barnett was loaded into a transport vehicle and driven to Methodist Hill Country Hospital, which took only approximately 6 minutes.
Hospital staff quickly acted under the suspicion that Ms. Barnett was having a “brain bleed.” A magistrate was summoned to the hospital and issued a personal recognizance bond for Ms. Barnett, and she was immediately transported via helicopter to Brook Army Medical Center. After she arrived, medical staff at Brook Army Medical Center allegedly told a family member that Ms. Barnett had possibly been assaulted a couple of days earlier and fell and hit her head. The Gillespie County Criminal Investigations Department opened an investigation into these allegations.
On Monday, February 3, 2025, at 4:00 PM, the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office was notified that Ms. Barnett had passed away.
Gillespie County Jail’s address is 104 Industrial Loop, Fredericksburg, TX 78624. The Fredericksburg jail has a bed capacity of 96. The facility was built with a potential expansion of up to 144 beds.
Need Legal Help for Jail Medical Neglect?
If a loved one has died and you suspect it was due to medical neglect in a jail setting, it’s important to seek legal assistance. Inmates, including pretrial detainees, have a constitutional right to proper medical care. When jail officials fail to provide necessary treatment or show deliberate indifference to an inmate’s medical needs, they must be held accountable.
At the Law Offices of Dean Malone, we are committed to advocating for those affected by jail deaths when it is suspected that medical neglect, jail abuse, or jail neglect was involved. Contact us by phone, text, or through our online form for a free case review.
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