
A 43-year-old Mount Vernon mother of eight mysteriously died in police
custody Monday — and her heartbroken husband wants to know why.
Herman
Turner, 49, waited all day Monday for his wife, Raynette, to be
arraigned on a shoplifting charge at the Mount Vernon criminal court.
When she didn't appear, he went home, only to be met by two detectives who broke the bad news: Raynette had died in a holding cell.
"I
went blank ... It was a complete shock," Turner said, recalling the
horrific news. "She was the best. She was very loving ... She always
loved to laugh. She was a fun, happy lady."
Turner said their children — the oldest 21, the youngest just 8 — were "completely distraught."
"I don't know what happened," he said about her death. "They won't give me a time of death ... what happened ... nothing."
His
attorney Osvoldo Gonzalez said Raynette had been in custody since
Friday because court is not in session in Mount Vernon on the weekends.
Details
of her arrest were not available, although a Mount Vernon spokeswoman
said it was Raynette’s third shoplifting arrest in recent weeks.
Over
the last four days, Raynette —who recently had bariatric surgery and
suffered from hypertension, according to officials — repeatedly said she
was not feeling well and asked to see a doctor, Gonzalez claimed.
"She
was isolated in the police station for four days and was still
complaining about needing medical attention and received nothing," he
said. "The hospital is directly across the street, but apparently her
requests for help were ignored."
Mount
Vernon Police Captain Edward Adinaro refuted Gonzalez’s claim and said
Raynette received medical care at the hospital across the street on
Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m.
She was taken back to her holding cell about 10 p.m. Adinaro said.
Gonzalez questioned the Mount Vernon police’s timeline, and believes she was not given a full checkup.
“That’s
amazingly fast for a hospital visit,” he said of the emergency room
stay. “Two hours in a hospital is like one minute. Obviously whatever
they did, it was not helpful to her.”
On Monday, a cop monitoring the cells saw Raynette alive about an hour before she died, Davis said.
When they found her, she appeared to be sleeping, he said.
A
city spokeswoman said an investigation into what transpired was
underway. An autopsy was slated to determine what killed Raynette
Turner.
Herman Turner said his wife "was as strong as a bull."
"She had no medical issues," he said. "She had a little high blood pressure, but that was it."