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Tera Harris, an inmate who died in Multnomah County Detention Center last October, fatally overdosed on fentanyl, according to an autopsy report Multnomah County officials released today.
Harris, who was awaiting trial on charges of running over her ex-husband with a car, had a history of drug use. She had been on an “opioid use therapy plan prior to incarceration,” according to the report, but for years her drug screens had come back clean. The report does not offer any indication of how she would have obtained fentanyl in the facility.
Still, county officials have acknowledged the county is failing to stem the flow of drugs into its jails. The problem has become so dire that Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell recently asked federal consultants to come and help.
Harris was the last of seven inmates to die in the county’s jails last year—an unprecedented death toll. Three were fentanyl overdoses, three were suicides, and one inmate hemorrhaged while detoxing.
Harris had previously accused the county of providing her substandard medical care while incarcerated, according to court records. The day prior to her death, “she was complaining of pain with a 10/10 rating” following what the report calls a “a minor use of force.” Medical staff could find no visible injuries.
She was found “on the floor of her cell” the following afternoon, several hours after returning from a medical appointment. Staff administered Narcan four times and used an automated external defibrillator, but Harris could not be revived.