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Booked Into Leon County Jail, Dead 12 Hours Later: Few Details Given On Amanda Mitchell’s Case

Leon County Sheriff's Office

Few details are being made available by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office following the Nov. 7 death of a female inmate. The woman died less than 12 hours after being booked into the county detention facility.

The Sheriff’s Office put out a news release on the same day 37-year-old Amanda Mitchell was found unresponsive on the floor of her cell, and later pronounced dead. Mitchell was booked for possession of meth and fentanyl.

An LCSO incident report obtained by WFSU was completely redacted, save for the deceased’s name, address and description.

According to the sheriff’s office, Mitchell was in the cell alone. The initial news release said foul play was not suspected, and that “life-saving measures were attempted.”

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting an independent investigation, which the agency says is ongoing. The Sheriff’s Office can't make the incident report public record as long as the FDLE probe is active. That could take a while, according to LCSO, because after an autopsy is performed toxicology testing must be done, which "can take an extended period of time," an agency spokesman said.

Credit LCSO
Two pages of the incident report on the death of inmate Amanda Mitchell at Leon County detention facility are completely redacted.

Ryan Dailey is a reporter/producer for WFSU/Florida Public Radio. After graduating from Florida State University, Ryan went into print journalism working for the Tallahassee Democrat for five years. At the Democrat, he worked as a copy editor, general assignment and K-12 education reporter.