US Government

Salem - On December 6, 2003 Cindy Lou Brightstar Sohappy-Gilbert died from acute alcohol poisoning while being held in a school detention cell in northeast Salem, OR. Cindy's blood-alcohol level registered 0.192, or twice the legal limit in Oregon. She told staff that she had been drinking tequila; she then was taken to a holding facility and placed by herself on a mattress in a cell. A surveillance camera at the facility recorded the teenager's moans as she rolled around in the cell. A videotape recording shows she stopped moving an hour later. Cindy was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. by emergency personnel with the Salem Fire Department. Cindy's mother, Renee Sohappy, filed a lawsuit against the US government for the Chemawa Indian School incident. The lawsuit claimed the boarding school staff unlawfully put Cindy in a cell because she was inebriated. Renee Sohappy will get $1.8 million in a legal settlement with the federal government. (Sep-16-06) [STATESMAN JOURNAL: DETENTION CELL DEATH]

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