The family of Irene Chavez, a woman who died by apparent suicide while in police custody in Chicago, is suing the city and multiple officers after footage showing her interaction with authorities was released.
The Chicago Civil Police Accountability Office (COPA), which is investigating the incident, published a series of videos and documents related to Chavez's death on December 18.
According to the police, the 33-year-old woman died after "a suicide attempt" in the Tactical Office of Police District Three.
The official cause of death is still unknown, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office told ABC News.
Irene Chavez is arrested following a bar altercation with a security guard on December 18, 2021. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability
Chavez was arrested hours before her alleged suicide after an apparent confrontation with a security guard at a bar.
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According to the videos and the police report, the woman disclosed to the arresting officers that she was a veteran of the US Army and that she suffered from post-traumatic stress, which is why she needed to see a therapist.
Some time later, at 3:20 am, she was found unconscious in her cell.
"The agents knew that Irene had mental health problems," the family's attorney, Andrew Stroth, of the Action Injury Law Group, told ABC7.
Chavez was locked in a room that had a barrier, considered by the lawyers as a risk for someone who wanted to harm themselves.
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The agents reported that they found the woman with a shirt wrapped around her neck and in the videos it is seen how they perform first aid tasks, then she was transferred to the University of Chicago hospital where she died at 11:30 am.
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According to the report, the agents reacted five minutes after the woman, who was screaming, fell completely silent.
His sister Iris told ABC7 on Tuesday that officers had failed to recognize someone in the midst of a mental breakdown.
"I look at the video and wonder why they're not doing this instead?
Why didn't they do something else or why is he talking to him like that?
"
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According to COPA, there is no surveillance video of the time of the place where the alleged suicide occurred.
The last image of Chavez before receiving first aid is when she is transported to the station.
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"At this time, there are no surveillance videos of Mrs. Chavez in the Tactical Office of Police District Three where the alleged suicide attempt occurred," says the civil organization.
The group is not required to reveal the videos but they did so, according to their report, considering it a matter of "great public interest."
Autopsy results are expected to be revealed in the coming months.
