Ta’Neasha Chappell:23-Year-Old Kentucky Woman Dies After Being Rushed From Indiana Jail
Ta’Neasha Chappell, 23, died in police custody after being rushed from an Indiana jail cell. An investigation has been launched.
Ta’Neasha Chappell, 23, was arrested and booked into an Indiana jail cell after being arrested for allegedly shoplifting and leading police on a high-speed chase on May 26, 2021, according to authorities.
But it’s what happened after those events that have not been fully divulged by Indiana authorities.
According to law enforcement, Indiana State Police had apprehended Chappell as part of what they say was a shoplifting ring involving up to seven people who traveled more than 80 miles from Louisville, Kentucky to Edinburgh, Indiana.
The assailants traveled to Indiana and “they're stealing all at the same time,” said Doyne Little, chief of the Edinburgh Police Department. “There's a good chance that they're connected."
Police have shared many details about the alleged spree, but they have been tightlipped about other events.
Chappell sat in jail for more than two months after being given a $4,000+ bond. In mid-July, she died in the custody of Indiana State jailers. Her family wants answers.
The little that authorities have released pants an incomplete picture: For instance, they say that Chappell complained of feeling sick to jail officials, detectives told the family.
She was rushed to nearby Seymour Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on Friday, July 16, 2021. But things just aren’t adding up.
"It is unsettling, we want justice, we want answers – we have a lot of questions and no answers," Ronesha Murrell, the victim’s sister, told WDRB.
The loss has shaken the whole family, but especially Chappell’s mother, Lavita McCain ."My baby died in jail… in jail. I feel like I failed her because I didn't have the money to get her out," she told the TV station through sobs.
But Murrell said she wants the world to know that her sister was a real person, and that she was loved.
"Her name is Ta'Neasha Chappell: She was funny, loud and she didn't back down,” Murrell was quoted as saying. “She had a big personality.”
Chappell’s parents say when they spoke to their daughter the day before she died, she was doing OK. She did, however, tell them that she was having issues with some of the other inmates.
But authorities have not been as forthcoming with information as the family would like, and that has raised suspicions.
"She called numerous times — over and over saying that 'they are going to kill me. Get me out of here,'" McCain told the news outlet.
"I believe they neglected her,” her mother told WHAS 11. They neglected her need, [and] protection. She spoke to me numerous times -- phone calls, telling me they were going to kill her in there," her sister Ronesha Murrell said.
To make matters worse, the family has not even received the body yet.
"My mom hasn't even been able to verify the body. Why has not she been able to verify the body.... They won't give us any answers," Murrell told the TV station.
"She may have been an inmate to y’all but she was loved. She was very loved,” Murrell told WHAS 11.
Meanwhile, detectives say they’re waiting on the official cause of death, which will come from the autopsy, which was supposed to have been performed on Sunday, July 19, 2021.
