QuickTake:

Karah Lynn Bowman, 37, died two days after she was booked into jail. Her death follows a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year alleging negligence by the county after another Lane County Jail inmate, Barbara Stillwell, died from a drug overdose in 2023 one day after being booked into the jail.

This story has been updated to reflect the role played by the Medical Examiner’s office in the investigation.

A woman’s death two days after being booked into the Lane County Jail in July was caused by drug toxicity involving methamphetamine and fentanyl, a Lane County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said this week.

Sgt. Tim Wallace provided information from the Lane County Medical Examiner’s Office. Autopsies and forensic pathology services are performed by the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office. The death has been ruled accidental.

Karah Lynn Bowman died July 27. Other details about Bowman’s death have not been disclosed.

Her death came about 2½ years after the death of another woman, Barbara Stillwell, from an alleged overdose at the jail that happened one day after her booking. Stillwell’s husband filed a negligence lawsuit earlier this year contending she died after obtaining fentanyl and methamphetamine inside her cell in the jail’s booking area.

Bowman’s arrest

Bowman, 37, was arrested on a Friday by Springfield police and booked into jail on suspicion of identity theft, fraudulently using a credit card and third-degree theft, which is a misdemeanor, according to records previously released by the jail.

She died before a decision could be made the following Monday about any formal charges against her, District Attorney Christopher Parosa has said. Bowman was being held by pretrial services pending a potential Monday arraignment, Parosa said.

A family member of Bowman declined to comment when reached by Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

The sheriff’s office announced Bowman’s death July 29 after notifying her next of kin, stating at the time only that Bowman died from an “emergency medical issue.”

Wallace declined to answer questions Wednesday, Dec. 3, about whether Bowman ingested the fatal mix of drugs before or after her booking.

In an email, Wallace said detectives, along with the medical examiner’s office, had completed a criminal investigation into Bowman’s death, but he referred a reporter to the sheriff’s office records unit. Lookout on Thursday filed a records request for the investigative report into Bowman’s death, but by Friday afternoon the request remained pending.

Wallace said no arrests were made, nor did detectives forward information to the district attorney’s office for prosecutors to consider filing any criminal charges.

In response to a separate records request for any grievances filed by Bowman while being held in custody, the sheriff’s office said Friday it had no such records.

Drugs in jail

The lawsuit following the 2023 death of Stillwell alleges the county’s “failures to provide a drug-free environment and provide the necessary treatment and care and proper monitoring to keep Mrs. Stillwell safe took her life.”

The county has denied the allegations in court documents.

Citing the pending lawsuit, Wallace declined to answer when asked about any similarities or differences between the deaths of Stillwill and Bowman.

Nationally, there were 184 drug-related deaths in jails in 2019, and a September research study concluded that “[o]pioid-related deaths in U.S. jails represent a significant yet under-researched public health crisis.”

Wallace said that, generally speaking, it’s “impossible” to keep all drugs out of jail.

“We are limited by law on the extent in which we can search people based on factors including their charges. Low-level charges often dictate that we can only legally do a cursory search for weapons. And even more intrusive unclothed searches are not likely to uncover drugs that a (person in) custody has ingested or hidden on or within their body,” Wallace said in an email.