Opening statements wrap up for former Cooper County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant in jail death case
Jazsmin Halliburton
FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)
Opening statements wrapped up in the jury trial of a former Cooper County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant charged in the death of an inmate Wednesday.
Robyn Pfeiffer and Rachel Atherton are charged with involuntary manslaughter for their alleged role in the death of Brooke Bailey in the Cooper County Jail in October 2023.
Pfeiffer was a lieutenant at the sheriff’s office and the jail supervisor when Bailey died from untreated diabetes.
Court documents say several jail workers told investigators with the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office that Pfeiffer brushed off Bailey’s complaints of feeling ill, saying the inmate was “playing games.” Bailey was found dead on Oct. 27 in her cell with blood and vomit on the floor and on her clothing.
A medical examiner found Bailey died from diabetic ketoacidosis and low sodium levels.
The prosecution’s opening statement played several phone calls between Bailey and her mother, as she explained the corrections officers were denying her medication and ignoring her pleas for help. In the recording played for the jury, she can be heard telling her mother, “They won’t check my blood sugar…I think they’re laughing… I can’t breathe…I love you, Mom.” The state explained that Bailey’s mother called the jail several times to tell officers that Bailey was diabetic.
The state referred to records made by other corrections officers that Pfeiffer brushed off Bailey’s complaints and showed daily footage from her cell showing her medical decline.
In the defense’s opening statement, Pfeiffer’s attorneys argued when Bailey was booked into the Cooper County Jail, she said she was diabetic when she filled out her medical history. The defense also explained that when Bailey was showing diabetic symptoms two days after her detainment, she allegedly did not complete the medical release form given to her. On the release form, she was asked to provide the name of her doctor, pharmacy, etc., but that information was left blank.
The defense claimed the officers who interacted with Bailey the most during her medical decline were experienced correctional officers who did not need to ask the chain of command for a decision to call for emergency aid.
The defense also questioned why officers working the night Bailey died never checked on her while she was lying on her cell floor motionless for hours.
The probable cause statement states Bailey was originally supposed to spend time at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, but was staying in the Cooper County Jail until a bed became available. The criminal case Bailey had in Cooper County was for a low-level tampering with a motor vehicle charge from 2021.