A Black female inmate has died after she was repeatedly denied treatment for suspected scarlet fever while incarcerated at Rikers Island in New York City.

Charizma Jones, 23, died at a hospital on July 14, three months after she started exhibiting symptoms such as a rash and fever.

An unnamed source told the New York Post that medical staff suspected scarlet fever, but an official diagnosis and cause of death have not yet been given.

The NY Daily News cited hospital records as indicating that the death of the Bronx native -- who was serving a one-year sentence at the jail for assault -- "may be linked to the rash and an allergic reaction to the antibiotic amoxicillin."

Advocates said in a letter, obtained by the Post, that Rikers Island correction officers "blocked" medical staff's access to Jones at least six times after she was admitted to the jail's infirmary in early May.

Department of Correction (DOC) staffers left Jones untreated for two days before allowing emergency medical services (EMS) to take her to Elmhurst Hospital.

Lawyers with nonprofit legal aid provider The Legal Aid Society said in their letter that they have "serious concerns that DOC's actions denying Ms. Jones access to medical care contributed to her tragic death."

The attorneys slammed the DOC's "use of a security status to deny" Jones urgent medical attention as "unacceptable" and called on the Board of Correction to launch an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

Representation. A woman lying on a hospital bed.
Representation. A woman lying on a hospital bed. Pixabay/Parentingupstream

According to the letter, correction officers allowed medical staffers to treat Jones when she was first admitted to the Rikers Island infirmary for a rash and fever from April 28 to May 2 or 3.

However, after Jones was admitted for a second time on May 4, the DOC staff refused to let the medical workers enter the inmate's infirmary cell to check her vital signs.

The correction officers allegedly told them that Jones "cannot be out from her cell for safety reason (sic)."

Jones had been placed on what the letter called "RED ID" after she allegedly assaulted staff at the facility on April 16.

According to medical records viewed by the outlet, Jones' symptoms included a rash that had spread to her entire body, a 102-degree fever, sore throat, chills and vomiting.

After being brought to the hospital on May 6 -- just an hour after the DOC staffers blocked medical workers from taking her vitals one last time -- Jones' condition worsened in the months leading up to her death last week, ultimately suffering multiple organ failure.

In a statement to the Post, MK Kaishian, a lawyer for Jones' family, also said they also want answers to the "many troubling questions" surrounding the inmate's death.

"We join the Legal Aid Society in calling for a thorough investigation by the Board of Correction as we continue to gather critical information on behalf of her family," Kaishian said.

The lawyer went on to criticize the DOC, adding that "there is no excuse whatsoever for this contemptuous and inhumane conduct."

The DOC has not publicly commented on the letter.

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Crime