The mother of Courtney Tinker has filed a lawsuit claiming Jefferson County jail staff and medical providers failed to treat her daughter's serious lupus symptoms, leading to her death alone in her cell in 2024. Deputies took Tinker to a freestanding emergency room instead of a hospital after finding her slumped over in her car, then jailed her on warrants. An autopsy listed hypertensive cardiovascular disease as the cause, with lupus among contributing factors.
Courtney Tinker, who had a history of lupus, was found slumped over the wheel of her vehicle in Colorado, prompting a welfare check by Jefferson County deputies. She reported chest pains, shortness of breath, and weakness. Instead of a full hospital, deputies took her to HealthONE Southwest ER, described in the lawsuit as a freestanding facility inadequate for her symptoms. The complaint alleges the ER cleared her under pressure from law enforcement, despite her condition, before booking her into Jefferson County Detention Facility on failure-to-appear warrants for theft, drug possession, property damage, and motor vehicle theft. This occurred on March 25, 2024. Tinker told staff on March 27 she felt unwell. The next day, a deputy saw vomit in her cell and noted her worsening appearance but took no action, according to the lawsuit filed by her mother. Multiple deputies observed her decline but failed to escalate care, the complaint states. On March 29 at 5:30 a.m., she was unresponsive during a breakfast check, lying on her mat with eyes fixed and mouth agape, not breathing. CPR began only after a sternum rub failed, but she was pronounced dead at St. Anthony's Hospital. First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King ruled in September 2024 that no criminal conduct by law enforcement contributed to the death, citing an autopsy that found natural causes from hypertensive cardiovascular disease, with lupus, COPD, chronic alcoholism, COVID-19, and drug abuse as factors, plus traces of fentanyl. Attorney Anita Springsteen of Springsteen Law Firm called the jail a 'House of Horrors,' citing similar deaths like Ashley Raisbeck's. She blames cost-driven decisions over proper care. The county and sheriff's office declined comment on the pending litigation.