Final days of anguish and anxiety
Jail inmate’s mental struggles went untreated before death, records show.
Maniesa Fletcher, 29, died in the custody of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on March 14. [Facebook]
Newly released records indicate that a woman inmate at the Marion County Jail whose death was reportedly due to “complications from epilepsy” had numerous altercations with corrections officers during which she was repeatedly hit with pepper spray while struggling with apparent psychotic episodes.
Maniesa Fletcher, 29, died after being jailed on misdemeanor charges stemming from an alleged $13.95 shoplifting incident at an Ocala convenience store. An altercation with corrections officers in the jail led to felony charges against her.
Fletcher died at AdventHealth Ocala Hospital on March 14 after being transferred from the jail. Fletcher’s brother said the family had been notified by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office that Fletcher was brain dead the day before she was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
Fletcher had been held at the jail since Sept. 10, 2024, first on the petty theft-related charges. While in jail, the incident with corrections officers on Sept. 19, 2024, in the infirmary led to charges of assault on a law enforcement officer and depriving an officer of a weapon or communication device.
Fletcher is the 31st person to die in MCSO custody since 2021. Nationally, an average of about 1.40 deaths per 1,000 incarcerated people occur annually, according to the National Institutes of Health. The annual average of deaths at the Marion County Jail, however, is 4.4 deaths per 1,000 inmates, nearly four times the national average.
Fletcher’s family said they believe she was not given proper medical care at the jail. They said Fletcher experienced seizures and episodes of psychosis for which she received treatment at The Vines Hospital, a mental health clinic in Ocala.
In an investigative report following Fletcher’s death authored by MCSO Corporal H. McMurray, hospital staff thought Fletcher died from cardiac arrest; however, the Medical Examiner’s autopsy report indicated the cause of death was “complications from epilepsy.”
“The decedent had a deep-brain stimulator implant, which was connected to a device in her chest. There was no known history of suicidality, illicit drug use or prescription drug abuse. She did not use tobacco products, and she drank alcohol a few times per year. The decedent was never married and had no children,” wrote Raymond Davis, an investigator for the Medical Examiner’s office.
Fletcher’s father, Ivor Fletcher, confirmed his daughter was not historically suicidal and did not abuse substances.
Her stepmother Stephanie Defreitas said Fletcher was kind and would tutor the little kids in the family and worried about using a shock collar on the family’s large German shepherd. “If you could have heard all the people talking about her at her funeral, she was loved,” Defreitas said, dismayed.
Defreitas said Fletcher would get “triggered” and have psychotic episodes. “She had certain things that would set her off,” she said.
“She was smart, she knew her own medications and what she needed to take. She complained to us when she was out on bond for a short period that they weren’t giving her the correct medications,” her father said.
Defreitas said Fletcher’s mother, who lives in Jamaica, is grieving the loss of her daughter and that this loss has taken a toll on the family.
The family provided some medical records that supported Fletcher’s visits to The Vines Hospital in Ocala for psychiatric evaluations and treatment. Additionally, the family provided jail medical records up until February 2025 that reflect Fletcher was not taking her medications when she grabbed a Taser from a corrections officer during an altercation in the jail infirmary.
Fletcher had been arrested at least twice before the incident that landed her behind bars last September, one time at The Vines Hospital when she ignored a trespass warning and tried to grab an Ocala Police Department officer’s Taser.
Court records do not reflect a mental evaluation was performed in any of these cases. However, records from the Vines indicate Fletcher was making claims that she was worried she was pregnant because she would wake up without clothing in different places in the jail without clothing.
The claim concerned Fletcher’s father. “She said she felt like she had been molested,” he said. Fletcher was taken to the Vines, and a pregnancy test came back negative.
The MCSO morbidity committee, consisting of jail management and medical staff from Heart of Florida, which contracts to provide medical care at the jail, reviewed Fletcher’s records following her death. The committee found no areas of concern with the case and indicated that proper procedures were followed, without providing any details.
The ”Gazette” asked MCSO spokesperson Lt. Paul Bloom about the agency’s policy for using the state’s Baker Act on people in custody who demonstrate the intention to harm themselves or others.
“Each deputy, patrol or detention, is given this discretion,” Bloom responded. “However, the parameters are pretty clear as to what qualifies for a Baker Act. If someone was fitting those qualifications, it would be a rare exception and some type of unordinary circumstances that they would not be placed under a Baker Act. By ‘discretion’ I mean the deputy can tell the difference in someone saying, for instance, ‘I wish I was never born’ versus someone saying, ‘I just want to die today.’ The first person may or may not qualify depending on the surrounding circumstances and evidence.”
As for Fletcher, Bloom wrote, “She was placed under special security precautions and suicide watch within the jail medical area. According to the report, she was treated at jail medical and did not require outside medical treatment.”
Fletcher’s sister told the “Gazette” her family was still grieving the loss of Fletcher and had not reviewed additional records released by MCSO. Despite having difficulty handling all that happened to their loved one, she expressed an understanding as to why Fletcher’s ordeal must be reported to the public.
Fletcher’s final days – a timeline based on public records
Fletcher was arrested at a Wawa convenience store on Pine Avenue by an OPD officer on Sept. 10, 2024. Fletcher reportedly had been walking around the store eating and drinking products she had not purchased. The officer valued the products at $13.95.
Fletcher was arrested on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest without violence, petty theft and disorderly conduct.
Records show Fletcher struggled when she got to the Marion County Jail.
On Sept. 12, jail incident reports indicate she was found naked in her cell and reportedly told corrections officers, “I’m not alright. I want to kill myself.” Officers took her to the jail infirmary.
On Sept. 18, Fletcher reportedly tried to pull out her own eye. Officers conducted a strip search and found Fletcher had a large open chest wound, which Fletcher said she caused with a toothbrush while trying to “’cut her brain out.”
She complied with orders to be restrained and was taken to the infirmary.
On Sept. 19, when a nurse in the infirmary checked Fletcher’s vital signs, Fletcher grabbed a Taser from one of the officers. Although the video of the incident does not show what happened in the cell afterward, a jail report indicates Fletcher was subdued against a wall, and the door of the infirmary cell shut with Fletcher and the two officers inside until another corrections officer arrived and used a Taser against Fletcher’s back, causing her to drop the Taser.
Medical records from Heart of Florida, the medical provider for the jail, indicate Fletcher was being seen by registered nurses up to this point. An expedited request was placed by a nurse for Fletcher to be seen by a medical provider following her self-inflicted injuries.
The request was expedited, but Fletcher was not evaluated until two days later on Sept. 20, according to medical records, after multiple incidents that put her and the guards in danger.
Jail medical records for this period do not reflect Fletcher taking medications to treat psychotic issues or her epilepsy, although they were prescribed during her prior incarceration for similar behavior.
On Sept. 20, Fletcher was still in the infirmary. An officer reported “observing Inmate Maniesa Fletcher climb up onto the sink in cell 110 where she is housed. Inmate Fletcher jumped off the sink, hitting her head on the wall. Medical staff responded, noting redness to Inmate Fletcher’s forehead. Inmate Fletcher was cleared to remain in the cell.”
Records indicate that same day, Fletcher refused repeated verbal commands for a strip search and cell inspection and officers sprayed her in the face with pepper spray foam. Fletcher was then given a decontamination shower. After being “medically evaluated,” she was returned to her cell.
That same evening, Fletcher again refused to comply with a strip search and was once again sprayed in the face with pepper spray. Officers wrestled her to the floor and she was placed in hand and leg restraints while she was again strip searched. Fletcher was given her second decontamination shower of the day and was again cleared by medical staff.
Medical records from Fletcher’s encounter with Nicholas Christofidis APRN on Sept. 20 are scant and indicate that Fletcher refused care.
On Sept. 26, while on disciplinary lockdown for the Sept. 19 incident, Fletcher told officers she wanted to hurt herself. She was once again taken to the infirmary.
On Sept. 30, the State Attorney’s Office filed felony charges against Fletcher for the Sept. 19 Taser incident.
On Oct. 14, Fletcher was sentenced to 40 days for the initial three misdemeanors stemming from the incident at the convenience store. Senior Judge James McCune gave her credit for 35 days already served, Fletcher still faced felony charges for the Taser incident.
A corrections officer on Oct. 26 noted that because of “unpredictable and erratic behaviors,” Fletcher was denied showers and recreation .
On Dec. 8, Fletcher twice refused orders to cooperate with a strip search. Officers again used pepper spray against her but Fletcher did not comply with their orders.
“Inmate Fletcher covered herself with her blanket and blocked her cell door/window, with her mattress,” the report states. “Mental Health Counselor Adams was notified and responded to Charlie Pod due to Inmate Fletcher being listed as a Vulnerable Inmate. Adams spoke to Inmate Fletcher to no avail. Inmate Fletcher still refused to comply with staff orders. Sergeant Leon and Corporal Phillips entered the cell and placed Inmate Fletcher against the wall. Sergeant Counts and I assisted with applying ankle restraints. Inmate Fletcher was removed from the cell, and a cell inspection was completed. Due to Inmate Fletcher’s disruptive and unpredictable behavior, she was moved to a room with a camera in Medical Pod.”
On Jan. 13, while in the infirmary cell, Fletcher reportedly had a seizure.
The next day, Fletcher again refused to comply with a strip search and cell inspection and refused to be handcuffed. This time, however, nursing staff gave permission for officers to use pepper spray on Fletcher.
“Due to the fact that Inmate Fletcher is listed as a vulnerable inmate, Nurse Mcinnis-Wray made the determination that, at that time, there was no reason that pepper gel /spray, could be utilized on Inmate Fletcher,” Deputy G. Plaza wrote in the jail incident report.
Plaza said he pepper sprayed Fletcher and two other officers handcuffed her and completed a strip search “while she was in the (decontamination) shower.”
On Jan. 15, the Detention Response Team was summoned to Fletcher’s cell.
“Lieutenant Grimes asked Inmate Fletcher if she would agree to speak with Ms. Tremante from Mental Health, prior to proceeding with the DRT default commands,” according to the jail report. “Ms. Tremante stepped to the door and attempted to speak with Inmate Fletcher. Inmate Fletcher was visibly awake and moving but refused to speak with her.
“Lieutenant Grimes then proceeded with the default commands, explaining to Inmate Fletcher what was being asked of her,” the report continues. “Inmate Fletcher refused all orders and continued to not respond. At this time, Lieutenant Grimes advised the team we had a non-compliant inmate. The Team made entry into the cell and removed the blanket covering Inmate Fletcher. Once the blanket was removed, the Team exited the Cell. Inmate Fletcher sat up in her bed and stared at the door. Lieutenant Grimes asked, advised, and ordered the Inmate to comply with orders given or she would be pepper sprayed. Inmate Fletcher did not comply, and Cpl. Keaton applied a burst of pepper foam to the Inmate’s facial area at 0828,” wrote Cpl. Valedez.
After Fletcher was pepper sprayed, the team re-entered the cell and applied hand and leg restraints to her. Fletcher was once again strip searched in a decontamination shower, “cleared medically” and returned to her cell.
The next significant incident happened weeks later. MCSO incident reports give these details.
“At 10:51 a.m. on March 13, Deputy Denardis noticed the decedent had not responded to food trays as she normally would. He called out to the decedent from her cell door but did not receive a response.
According to witness statements, Fletcher was found face down with a blanket fully covering her and when they pulled the blanket back, they noticed it was “extremely wet.”
Corrections officers and a nurse rolled the decedent off her bunk and onto the floor. Nurse Fraiser attempted to get vitals until 10:59 when charge Nurse Ramos “entered the cell and called a code red, which is a medical emergency. At approximately 11:09 hours, Ocala Fire Rescue entered the infirmary. Paramedics arrived at approximately 11:14 hours and departed the jail to the hospital with the decedent at 11:28 hours.”
According to McMurray’s report, Fletcher had been housed in the jail infirmary for exactly four months leading up to her death.
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