Anna Brown

How they died

No

Anna Brown died soon after police arrested her for trespassing in the emergency room at St. Mary's Health Center. Brown, who was reportedly homeless, had gone to the hospital seeking emergency medical treatment for severe leg pain, then refused to leave when she didn't get adequate care. Officer Jason Tharp, who was at St. Mary's on another call about 10 a.m., arrested Brown for trespassing and officer Scott Stebelman wheeled her out in handcuffs a few hours later after a doctor said she was healthy enough to be locked up. Brown told police her legs hurt too badly to walks, so she was carried into jail by her arms and ankles and left on the floor of a holding cell. Within 15 minutes, she stopped moving and was pronounced dead soon afterward. The officers who arrested her reportedly suspected Brown was at the hospital seeking drugs. An autopsy revealed Brown had blood clots in her legs and lungs and had no drugs in her system. The St. Louis police never announced Brown's death. Her story only came to light six months later after an anonymous caller tipped off the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Anna Brown, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources