LONGVIEW, Texas — Arrest documents show a Gregg County Jail staff member who was arrested last week failed to ask an inmate if he wanted medication before he later died.
Sonja Sheree Jones, 54, of Longview, turned herself into the Gregg County Jail on Jan. 4 on a tampering with a government record charge. She bonded out of the jail the same day after having a $10,000 bond.
Jones, who was employed as a medical technician, is accused of falsifying medical documents in connection with the Dec. 12 death Gregg County Jail inmate 64-year-old John Edward Anderson, according to the Gregg County Sheriff's Office.
Anderson was found unresponsive by jail staff who were conducting floor walks on Dec. 12. Employees administered life-saving measures and Anderson was taken to the hospital, where he later died, the sheriff's office said.
An arrest affidavit states Anderson was known to make statements of feeling hopeless and had several medical related illnesses. Documented paperwork showed he was known to refuse medical advice and treatment.
Using surveillance video, a Texas Ranger investigator saw Jones pass by Anderson's cell. Investigators found there was no attempt made to see if Anderson wanted medication, but Jones documented him as refusing, the affidavit said.
After Anderson's death, she was questioned by her supervisor about where the document for the refusal was. The investigator learned Jones only completed the form after Anderson died, the document read.
The affidavit notes on the previous day (Dec. 11), Jones failed to ask if Anderson wanted medical treatment two separate times. However, she filled out a form stating Anderson refused.
In an interview, Jones admitted to an investigator that she never made an attempt to ask Anderson if he needed medication. She added that because Anderson was known to refuse medication she "assumed" he would refuse again, according to the affidavit.
The sheriff's office said early results showed Anderson had hypertensive and atherosclerotic trauma, but the exact cause of death is still pending at this time. An Office of the Texas Attorney General report states Anderson was homeless and he was in jail on a criminal trespass charge. He had been in there for 10 days.