Woman refuses to be police informant, then dies in a Missouri jail, lawsuit says
The family of a Missouri woman is suing after they say she was denied medical treatment in jail, leading to her death.
A federal lawsuit filed Feb. 7 lists several employees of Crystal City as defendants, including police personnel, dispatchers and EMTs.
McClatchy News reached out to the City of Crystal City for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Death in jail
At about midnight Feb. 8, 2022, Kimberly Kertz arrived at the Crystal City Jail, according to the lawsuit.
Kertz was addicted to heroin and had struggled with addiction for 20 years, according to the lawsuit.
When she was booked into the jail, no measures were taken to determine whether Kertz was “fit for confinement,” despite her showing flu-like symptoms, the civil complaint said.
“Kimberly was undergoing forced, rapid-detoxification from heroin after prolonged daily use,” the lawsuit said.
After 17 hours in custody and her multiple requests for help, EMTs were called in to examine Kertz, the complaint said.
An officer told the EMTs he was “sorry” for having to call them to examine her, according to the lawsuit.A sergeant told them that Kertz was “just Dope Sick,” the complaint said.
During the brief, five-minute exam, Kertz told the EMTs she was a daily user of heroin and she was having chest pain. She said what she was experiencing was worse than heroin withdrawals she experienced in the past, the lawsuit said.
EMTs found she had severely elevated blood pressure — 170/100 — but left without providing her any treatment, and the sergeant told them he’d take her to the hospital if she “continues to act up,” according to the lawsuit.
For roughly 44 hours, Kertz continued to suffer from “medical distress” and symptoms of withdrawal. She had chills, sweats, dehydration and vomited at least 24 times over a five-hour period, the lawsuit said. She repeatedly called for help but got no answer, the complaint said.
Despite these symptoms, she was never taken to a hospital, according to the lawsuit.
Then at about 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9, Kertz seized for two minutes before taking a breath and going limp, according to the lawsuit. Officers found her unresponsive about 15 minutes later, but she never woke back up.
Informant
On Feb. 14, Kertz’s parents went to the jail to retrieve her belongings. While there, a detective told her father that he had been “working with Kim for three (3) years,” the lawsuit said.
Kertz’s father responded by saying, “We know. And Kimberly said she didn’t want to.” To which, the detective told them, “Well, you only burn us once,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit said Kertz served as a confidential informant to the police for three years. However, after the birth of her child in 2020, she was asked to inform on an investigation into the father of her child, but she refused, the lawsuit said.
The complaint alleges “the reason they refused to provide medical care was payback. Ms. Kertz had refused to act as a confidential informant.”
The lawsuit, which lists six counts of violations of Kertz’ civil and constitutional rights, is asking for $15,000,000 in compensatory damages for each count.
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Woman refuses to be police informant, then dies in a Missouri jail, lawsuit says."
