McLeod Said Procedures Followed, Miller Taken to Hospital

Courtsey of Hattiesburg American/April 27, 2007
By Royce Armstrong
LEAKESVILLE - Greene County Sheriff Stanley McLeod said Thursday that officials followed procedure when a county jail inmate's infant died during childbirth.
"As soon as my office became aware of the situation, we followed all procedures and made sure that Ms. Miller got to the hospital and received the medical help that she needed," McLeod said.
"It is unfortunate that this happened, and I hate that it happened. This office, my staff, we try to help people, not hurt people."
Amber Miller, 26, claims in a lawsuit to be filed today that county officials were negligent in providing medical care for her and her baby while she was incarcerated.
The suit also claims wrongful death for the deceased infant, Kayla Danielle Miller.
Miller, now serving a five-year sentence at the state prison in Pearl for uttering forgery, is seeking at least $1 million from the county. Officials said she has been arrested numerous times in both George and Greene counties.
"I cannot comment on the specifics of this case out of respect for the privacy of Ms. Miller and because of the pending lawsuit," McLeod said. "I will say that in regard to the allegations that are being made, some are erroneous and some are incomplete."
The allegations are found in the Notice of Claim, a legal instrument that must be filed at least 120 days before filing a lawsuit, according to Miller's attorney, Malcolm N. Murphy. The notice was filed on Nov. 6 and says that Miller was in the second trimester of a pregnancy on Jan. 4, 2006.
Miller began feeling pain at approximately 8 p.m. while playing cards with two other female inmates. Miller and the other inmates asked the jailer-dispatchers for help, the court document said. Instead of receiving help, the three women were told to be quiet and were threatened with Mace if Miller did not stop screaming.
Jail personnel were told Miller's baby was being born and that it was a breech birth. The court document said jail personnel asked the other inmates to spread Miller's legs and turn her so that they could see the baby. The baby was partially protruding from the mother. Jail personnel then directed that Miller, who was lying on a towel on a concrete floor, be turned in such a way that male prisoners in another cell block could "see what a woman had to endure while birthing a baby."
Jail personnel continued to refuse getting medical help for Miller, according to the court document. Finally, one of the male prisoners called for help. Emergency medical personnel arrived and Miller was taken to the Greene County Hospital. A doctor on duty finished delivering the baby just before midnight. The baby had been born, except for its head, according to hospital medical records. The baby was dead.
McLeod said Miller and two other inmates had escaped from the jail several days earlier and were on the loose for two or three days.
"We do not know what happened during that time. What I do know is that when we got them back into custody, we put all three of them in a secure cell. I can assure you that male prisoners could not view what was happening in that cell. If this case goes to trial, these facts will come out. This is a tragic situation and I hate it for Ms. Miller, her family and her child. It is just something that we have to work through."
Ron Scott of Lucedale, who said he is the baby's father, said, "She was looking forward to having that baby. Amber is a good person, man. Everybody has their moments."
Miller was living with Scott until she was incarcerated. Miller and Scott have another child, a girl who is now 2 years old.
"She wanted that baby," said Barbara Ann Miller of Leakesville, Amber Miller's aunt. "She would not intentionally have done anything to harm it."
Barbara Ann Miller said she helped raise Amber and has maintained a close relationship with her.