A Florida jail could face legal action after staffers neglected to give an inmate medicine that could have saved his life.
Dexter Barry, 54, was locked up on Nov. 18, 2022, in the Duval County Jail on a misdemeanor. His family believes their loved one was not cared for properly over the weekend he was behind bars.
The former Jacksonville resident was charged with simple assault for allegedly verbally threatening his neighbor during a dispute.
“I take rejection meds for my heart transplant. I can’t miss those doses,” Body camera video shows Barry telling the arresting officer.
Reports show Barry and his neighbor were sharing Wi-Fi, but at some point, the neighbor stopped paying his share of the bill, Barry’s son Dexter Barry Jr. told The Tributary news outlet. Barry told his neighbor he was going to beat him up if he did not pay what he owed.
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The neighbor called police. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officer Jacob McKeon responded, and after reviewing the situation, he told Barry, “It’s just going to be to separate you all for a cool-off period,” and arrested him.
Barry told McKeon then and there about his heart condition and that it was vital for him to take his heart medication. Barry explained to McKeon that he’d had recently had a heart transplant and he needed to take his prescription for Mycophenolate, an immunosuppressant, to ensure his body did not reject the new organ. Barry would repeat this to jail officials.
Barry was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2008 and was on the waiting list for a new heart for 12 years. Black people in need of organ transplants can wait longer than other races to find donors, reports show.
“When I say, like, hurdles, he went through a lot just to get where he was. He was a…
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