Thread by @Ajzionts

The U.S. Marshals decided to transfer a pregnant, high-risk woman from South Dakota to a medical prison in Texas in the middle of a pandemic.

Andrea Circle Bear, a 30-year-old from Eagle Butte, died today. Her baby survived.

Beyond tragic. 1/x

https://twitter.com/RCJournal/status/1255309348185739264

I plan to do followup reporting on this. I hope to get in touch with her family and also ask federal officials why they couldn't delay her transfer given her case was already dragging on since summer 2018.

H/T @keegan_hamilton for flagging this tragic death.

2/x

Circle bear was serving just over two years on a low-level drug case involving an informant.

Here's what the U.S. Attorney said when she was sentenced:

“Don’t let yourself or your property get mixed up in the world of illegal drugs. It ends badly.”

3/3

OK I thought this thread was over but I have more sad news. Multiple sources are telling me Circle Bear is the sister-in-law of Sarah Circle Bear, a 24-year-old who died in the Brown County Jail in 2015.

4/x

Sarah had two kids and her family says she was pregnant when she died:

indiancountrytoday.com/archive/sarah-…

5/x

Sarah died of a meth overdose while in jail. The family and some witnesses say staff ignored her pleas for help but the state said staff did respond and cleared the jail of any wrongdoing. There is an ongoing lawsuit:

argusleader.com/story/news/cri…

6/x

More info from @ScottGordonNBC5

This says Circle Bear came from a jail in OK. If true, does this mean the U.S. Marshals are doing pit stops during coronavirus? The more bookings/contacts, the more dangerous it seems for everyone.

7/x

nbcdfw.com/news/coronavir…

Via @ScottGordonNBC5: March 28 she was "transported to JPS w/ high fever+signs of coronavirus, but returned to the prison, the sources said ... her conditions worsened+she was diagnosed with pneumonia, and she returned to the hospital by ambulance, a third person confirmed.

8/x

More from @ScottGordonNBC5: "A source who works in the medical community confirmed Friday the baby was doing well, but the mother remains in critical condition."

At least one person has written on FB that the baby is with the mother's family. Will work to confirm.

9/x

Important point to add before I go to bed. We don't know where Circle Bear got the virus. It could have been back in Winner, in OK (if that part is correct), in prison, at the hospital or during transfer between any of these places. 10/x

I have confirmed with a spokesman for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe that Andrea Circle Bear was a member.

This was my assumption but I wanted to confirm because sometimes tribal members live on reservations of other tribes.

11/x