Court documents provide some insight in the case of a Duchesne County nurse charged this week in the death of an inmate last December. On Monday, September 25th, 50-year-old Jana Clyde was charged by the State of Utah Attorney General with Negligent Homicide, a class A Misdemeanor, in the death of Madison Jensen in the Duchesne County Jail on December 1st, 2016. According to the Declaration of Probable Cause for the charge, the investigator alleges that the victim was booked into Duchesne County Jail on or about November 27th, 2016 for internal consumption/possession of heroin, among other drug charges. Upon being booked, the victim answered affirmatively when asked if she was going to withdraw from drugs, heroin specifically. On November 28th, the victim was evaluated by Nurse Jana Clyde and, according to the court document, “despite being very ill with both vomiting and diarrhea, [Jana Clyde] took no action to address this condition, and the victim was placed back into the general population of the jail.” On November 29th, a deputy noted that the victim did not appear well and that her condition was deteriorating. The deputy reported the victim’s condition to Clyde who “did not act to treat or follow up with the victim’s deteriorating condition and medical needs, even though the victim was then moved to a monitored cell with video surveillance away from the general inmate population.” On November 30th, a deputy reported to Clyde that the victim could not get off her bed to collect her medication and that the victim did not look well. Clyde still “made no assessment, did not see the victim, nor made any attempt to check on the welfare of the victim.” On December 1st, the victim was pronounced dead in her jail cell and the medical examiner determined the cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia due to dehydration, in the setting of opiate withdrawal. Jana Clyde was placed on paid administrative leave on Monday when the charge was filed, in accordance with Duchesne County policy.
