Black woman awarded $100,000 settlement after her premature baby died in Syracuse jail in 2022

Cheree Byrd, who spent a month at the Onondaga County Justice Center, screamed for days for assistance from deputies and other jail staff after her water broke.

A Black woman, who gave birth to a premature baby in a downtown Syracuse jail in 2022, was awarded $100,000 after Onondaga County agreed to settle her lawsuit.

Cheree Byrd was pregnant when she was held on a misdemeanor petit larceny charge at the Onondaga County Justice Center in July 2022. She remained in the facility after she was unable to post the $5,000 bond and went into labor on August 2, 2022. The baby was only 23 weeks, making it “extremely” premature. Tragically, the child died and Byrd was released from custody. Her larceny charge was later dropped.

Byrd, who was diagnosed with mental illness at age 12, would file suit against the county, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, then-Sheriff Eugene Conway and jail medical providers NaphCare and Proactive Healthcare Medicine, alleging that if she had received proper medical care and attention, her child would have survived or been delivered at a later date.

According to her lawsuit, Byrd was given Tylenol and a tampon from jail officials after she informed them that her water broke. Having previously been diagnosed with a history of premature births, Byrd was only taken to a hospital after a sheriff’s deputy noticed she was in active labor. Her child, a baby girl, died at the hospital.

Byrd said she screamed for help for over six days while she was in labor, as she alerted other inmates and staff of her condition. While her fellow inmates pleaded with guards for assistance, her requests were repeatedly ignored.

“As Byrd was demonstrating signs and symptoms of active psychosis and delusional behavior, prompt screening was essential to rule out other possible related causes,” a heavily redacted report from the state Commission of Correction’s Medical Review Board said. The report ultimately concluded she received “deficient and negligent” care.

“The Medical Review Board finds that Byrd was not examined by a physician until 30 hours after she first reported that her water broke, an unacceptable delay in care,” the report stated.

Not long after the child’s death, Onondaga County’s contract with NaphCare was not renewed. Byrd would later settle with the medical provider for an undisclosed amount.