AUSTIN, Texas — AUSTIN – New video shows the final moments before an Austin woman was found dead in a Nevada jail. Her friends and family believe her death was preventable and the family is suing.
“One of the most outgoing people I've ever met always, just trying to make people laugh, make people smile,” said Katie Andreano, Kelly Coltrain’s best friend.
"Funny", "smart", and "the life of the party" are just a few words Andreano uses to describe her best friend of more than 10 years.
“The hardest part of it all is thinking how (Coltrain) was feeling,” said Andreano.
Andreano is talking about the final moments before Coltrain died in a Nevada jail. She said Coltrain was addicted to drugs and died of a drug-related seizure, but family and friends are claiming jailers did nothing to save her life.
Video the family's lawyers gave KVUE shows the 27-year-old in her cell buried under blankets, not eating, and appearing to shake. The jailer reportedly asks her to mob up her own vomit. She's believed to have died an hour later with deputies not realizing she was dead for at least five hours.
“It was all horrifying but the most horrifying part was just imagining my best friend being alone dying and not having any help,” said Andreano.
“They gave her no medical care whatsoever, she asked for it,” said Kerry Doyle, family’s lawyer. “There's a hospital across the street. They even told her she doesn't get to decide when she goes to the doctor.”
In a lawsuit filed last week, Coltrain's family said when she was arrested, she told Mineral County deputies she was drug dependent and had a history of withdrawal-related seizures. She asked to go to the hospital, but the family said the deputy refused to take her.
The family is fighting for the creation of new policies in hopes of saving someone else's life.
"There should be a medical professional evaluating inmates, especially if they're going through withdrawal or if they have a history of other medical issues," said Doyle. “This isn't about people trying to get rich. This is about trying to prevent this from happening to somebody else's kid."
Coltrain’s family is suing for wrongful death, claiming authorities deliberately ignored her serious medical condition.
Coltrain was in Nevada visiting family at the time. Before her death, the family's lawyer said Coltrain was working on getting her massage license and talked about going to nursing school.