‘Help me’: Feds charge 6, DA charges 2 in Garvin County Jail death

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(Editor’s note: The following article contains graphic details about a woman’s death that readers may find upsetting.)

When 32-year-old Kayla Lee Turley died Aug. 9, 2023, her death yielded no headlines and capped a tragic spiral that included several arrests for burglary and drug possession, as well as a divorce for which she was supposed to be in court that week. Now, 15 months later, eight people have been charged for their actions and inactions during her final days, which included physical abuse in a crowded Garvin County Jail cell, multiple trips to hospitals, and the slow agony of organ failure.

In November, Garvin County District Attorney Greg Mashburn charged Tiffani Stapp and Kathleen Tolison with aggravated assault and battery for what they did to Turley: slapping, choking and beating her incapacitated body in Cell 8 of the Garvin County Jail.

On Dec. 3, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma indicted five detention officers and one nurse for what they did not do. Now facing a Jan. 13 trial, those federal defendants accused of “deprivation of rights” and “deliberate indifference to medical needs” are:

• Jennifer Baxter, a former detention deputy at the jail;
• Alesha Ingram, a former detention deputy at the jail;
• Vincent Matthews, a former detention deputy at the jail;
• Lynnsee Noel, a nurse employed by Turn Key Health;
• Melissa Melton, a current detention sergeant at the jail; and
• Paula Kelley, a current detention deputy at the jail.

Each faces a count of “deprivation of rights under color of law” — as defined in 18 U.S.C., Section 242 — for “deliberate indifference to serious medical needs,” according to the indictment.

“This offense resulted in bodily injury to K.T. and, ultimately, her death,” a press release from U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester said.

According to the indictment, Baxter, Ingram, Matthews and Noel received a second count of the same charge because they allegedly “knew that [Turley] (…) faced a risk of serious physical harm at the hands of the other inmates in [Turley’s Garvin County Jail] cell, and willfully failed to take reasonable measures to abate that risk.”

Taken in context, the specific circumstances by which Stapp and Tolison battered Turley highlight broader problems at the Garvin County Jail, which voters are poised to consider funding a replacement for in February. The facility has seen at least a half-dozen other assault and battery charges filed against detainees for fights and beatings over the last year. Stapp herself has faced three separate charges for beating three different female detainees inside the jail.

Although it houses detainees awaiting adjudication for crimes charged by the state as well as the Chickasaw Nation, the Garvin County Jail only holds about 80 people and does not accommodate detainee segregation, instead housing more than a dozen detainees at a time in larger “pods,” according to Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett.

“So when you take somebody, let’s say you have all the females. All females are going to sit in one cell, you know,” Mullet told NonDoc on Dec. 6. “I’ve got a pod over here that’s got 14. I’ve got another pod over here that holds 20.”

Grand jury: Jail employees had ‘deliberate indifference’

A citizen of the Choctaw Nation, Kayla Turley (neé Robinson) was booked into the Garvin County Jail in mid-July 2023 to await prosecution by the Chickasaw Nation for a burglary charge — at least the third property crime case brought against her that year. As a tribal citizen arrested within the Chickasaw Nation Reservation, only the tribe and federal government had jurisdiction to charge Turley for the alleged burglary of a semi-truck. A spokesman with the Chickasaw Nation did not respond to a request for tribal court records regarding Turley’s bond and prosecution.

But state court records and her Department of Corrections profile show Turley’s life in turmoil, including several arrests for theft and drug possession. In March 2023, the Chickasaw Nation had charged her for a prior burglary. Two months later, she was arrested and charged with breaking and entering in Prague, where she attended high school. The Lincoln County case’s probable cause affidavit listed Turley as “homeless,” and the arresting officer realized she matched the description of a woman seen on video fleeing a pickup truck that had been stolen in Seminole County. Turley pleaded guilty and received a one-year suspended sentence for agreeing to complete a court recovery program. After she failed to appear for that program over the summer, the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office filed to revoke Turley’s suspended sentence in October 2023 — two months after she had died.

Mullet emphasized that he requested the investigation of Turley’s death. While records indicate the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Chickasaw Lighthorse Police were involved, formal reports relied upon by Mashburn and federal prosecutors were prepared by FBI Special Agent Casey Cox.

As filed in the felonies faced by Stapp and Tollison, Cox’s probable cause affidavits include unsettling details about Turley’s medical condition and the final days of her life, which included multiple trips to and from hospitals where she was suspected of experiencing a gallbladder issue. Turley had not eaten in days and could not move without the assistance of others, and Cox wrote that Turley was discharged from an unnamed hospital with instructions for readmission if her condition worsened. By Aug. 6, Turley “appeared to be delusional,” continuously crying out “help me,” “OK” and the name of her sister. According to Cox’s investigation, Turley was transferred to a hospital in the early hours of Aug. 7 and died there Aug. 9.

According to Cox, Turley’s autopsy report stated that, during her hospital stays Aug. 2 through Aug. 4, she was treated for low platelets, low sodium, elevated liver enzymes, dehydration and constipation. The autopsy concluded that Turley likely died as a result of multi-system organ failure owing to hepatitis of unknown cause, but “the manner of death is probably best classified as underdetermined.”

That lack of clarity regarding an exact cause of death likely limited Mashburn’s ability to charge either Stapp or Tolison with manslaughter for the physical abuse allegedly perpetrated on a dying woman. Meanwhile, the federal indictment alleges that the five jailers and nurse “willfully failed to ensure that [Turley] was provided with necessary medical care, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm.”

If convicted, the federal defendants face up to life in prison, according to the press release from Troester’s office.

FBI affidavit describes Turley’s last hours

On Nov. 21, Mashburn’s office charged both Kathleen Tolison and Tiffani Stapp with aggravated assault and battery, a felony. Cox’s probable cause affidavits describe the hours of physical and verbal abuse Turley received Aug. 6 from the two women while medically incapacitated in their Garvin County Jail pod.

According to Cox’s affidavits, surveillance footage caught Stapp beginning to threaten Turley at 9:57 a.m., throwing a slipper at her shortly thereafter. At 10:04 a.m., Stapp notified the jail staff via intercom she was “struggling” to deal with Turley, who was “crying out in pain.” Stapp allegedly asked a detention deputy, “Can’t there be a glitch in the system?” The surveillance footage caught Stapp slapping Turley at about 11:10 a.m., and other detainees reported Stapp put a sock in Turley’s mouth. Stapp threatened Turley several times, according to Cox, yelling at her to “shut the fuck up” or face physical attacks.

At 11:48 a.m., the report said, Tolison was recorded on video throwing water on Turley’s face. Tolison repeated the act at 1:36 p.m. and 2:48 p.m., causing Turley to gasp for air and choke. Tolison hit Turley several times throughout, often causing Turley to cry out in pain, the report said. At 3:25 p.m., Tolison was reported to strike Turley twice.

“During this incident, it also sounds or appears that Tolison may be choking Turley underneath the table,” the report said.

No witness claimed to see Tolison choking Turley, but one said Tolison later “bragged” about doing so, while another said Tolison later cried and told the witness she had not meant to choke Turley for as long as she had.

Stapp later agreed to speak with OSBI and Chickasaw Lighthorse investigators and told them Tolison said she “choked out” Turley. She added she believed Tolison looked up to her. According to Cox’s report, Stapp got “emotional” during the interview, telling investigators, “I feel like a piece of shit.” Stapp said she was irritated by the noises Turley was making and threatened her in pursuit of silence, but she said she had not intended to harm Turley and that she stopped interacting when Turley said she was scared.

Tolison was serving time after previous felony charges in Garvin County for violent crimes: one arising from a domestic violence incident in 2022 where she struck her partner in the face, and three arising from an incident in 2023 where she chased her partner with a knife and assaulted a police officer. Stapp, too, has a history of drug and theft crimes, as well as incidents in the Garvin County Jail where she broke a detainee’s foot and another where she struck a different detainee.

Nurse, two detention officers on leave

According to Mullett, three of the charged detention officers — Baxter, Ingram and Matthews — are no longer employed at the jail for unrelated reasons. Melton and Kelley are still employed at the jail but have been suspended.

“They were suspended once I found out they got indicted, which was a surprise to me,” Mullett said. “I still don’t know how they got to that. I don’t know how they got there, because they were never being — they weren’t being looked at. So I don’t — I’m not privy to that information.”

A representative for Turn Key Health confirmed that Noel had previously been transferred to a different jail nursing assignment. She had worked at the Garvin County Jail from her initial employment in September 2018 through Jan. 17 of this year.

“She is still employed with TK Health and is on administrative leave pending the outcome of this issue,” said Kenna Griffin, the company’s communications director. “There’s not much we can say because it is a personnel issue for us.”

Noel’s attorney, Justin Lowe, described the federal proceedings as “rushed.” He said federal prosecutors filed for a protective order Monday to allow for sensitive documents in the case, such as medical records, to be divulged to the attorneys while otherwise remaining confidential. However, he said the process of discovery has yet to begin. To Lowe, starting the trial Jan. 13 seems like a long shot.

“I can’t possibly see that going with the holidays in here,” he said. “I don’t have a single shred of evidence other than their super-secret indictment that they did in one day.”

Lowe has yet to see any of the footage mentioned in Cox’s affidavits, but he cast suspicion on why the unnamed hospital sent Turley back to the Garvin County Jail in the first place.

“I’ll be very anxious to see what the hospital saw and why they believed that she was good enough to be released back to the jail, as she was in such dire condition that she was going to die in the next, literally, 36 hours, I think,” he said.

In layman’s terms, Lowe described the federal charge of deprivation of rights under color of law as not being cared for while under the jail’s watch.

“But I think that’s a slippery slope,” he said. “I mean, I know so many things have happened in Oklahoma County Jail. I know things have happened in lots of jails all over the country. When someone dies, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t treated, or they weren’t, you know, taken care of.”

After Turley died, Mullett said he requested an investigation and called in OSBI and the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department.

“Based off of the investigation, they called and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about us just having the FBI come down, look at everything to keep it unbiased, transparent?’ I agreed and said, ‘Yeah, bring them in. Let’s let somebody from an outside source take a look at everything,'” Mullett said.

Mullet said he was informed about the indictment last week and has not had a chance to go through its findings. He added he wants to “see this through” and said his department will continue to work with investigators.

“I can’t get all the way into it, but there’s more than what meets the eye,” he said. “We’re still cooperating with the investigation, we’re still cooperating with the FBI. There’s still a lot to do.”

In a recent interview with the Pauls Valley Democrat, Mullett discussed the need for a new Garvin County Jail. A proposed sales tax to fund a new jail that would have more than twice as many beds as the current facility is on the ballot for Garvin County voters in February 2025.

As voters consider the proposal, the repeated assault and battery charges filed for events within the jail could become a factor. On Dec. 3, a man was charged with attempting to incite a riot at the facility and assaulting another inmate.

Meanwhile, Garvin County could be looking at a lawsuit related to the tragedy after a Tulsa County District Court judge appointed Turley’s sister as the administrator of her estate. A Facebook message to her sister and calls to the law firm of Smolen & Roytman were not returned prior to the publication of this story.

Turley’s obituary remembers a woman who was “fun-loving” and who enjoyed spending time in the outdoors. She is survived by a son, whom the obituary calls her “pride and joy.”

“She had so much love and admiration for her nieces, nephew, cousins, and all of her family,” the obituary said.

Read the federal grand jury indictment

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