Woman arrested in Kensington sweep dies in jail

A 31-year-old woman who was arrested last week during a police sweep in Kensington – part of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s strategy to disrupt the neighborhood’s drug trade – died after two days in the city’s jail system.

Amanda Cahill was found unresponsive in her cell at around 7:30 a.m. Saturday by a nurse, who administered CPR, according to a Philadelphia Department of Prisons account. A medical team responded, but Cahill, a mother of two children, was declared dead at 7:45 a.m.

A nurse doing drug withdrawal assessments on the intake unit saw her at around 1 a.m., and Cahill reported that she “was fine,” PDP spokesperson John Mitchell said in a statement.

The Medical Examiner’s Office is investigating her cause of death. An MEO spokesperson told Metro that the probe will likely take several days to conclude. A funeral for Cahill is scheduled Thursday at a Roxborough funeral home, according to an obituary.

PDP officials did not say where Cahill was incarcerated when she died. A vast majority of female inmates are currently housed at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center.

As first reported by the Inquirer, Cahill was among 34 people apprehended during a Philadelphia Police Department enforcement initiative Wednesday, Sept. 4, in the area of G Street and Allegheny Avenue.

Preliminary information indicates that officers allegedly observed Cahill smoking a pipe and arrested her, according to Chief Public Defender Keisha Hudson. Court documents indicate she was charged with possession of a controlled substance, believed to be cocaine.

Cahill, who was represented by the Defender’s Association of Philadelphia, also had detainers related to cases in Chester and Bucks counties, Hudson said. She was also wanted for theft in New Jersey.

Hudson told Metro that such warrants and probation detainers are fairly common for those with substance use disorder in Kensington. Many are in active addiction and lack stable housing, so they fall behind on court dates and procedures, she added.

A majority of the nearly three dozen handcuffed last week were arrested on drug charges or for outstanding warrants, according to the PPD.

“We do have additional clients who are in the jails now who were picked up in that sweep,” Hudson said. “We are going to interview them, and we’re just going to make sure that they were offered medical intervention or hospitalization.”

In June, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel deployed 75 academy graduates to Kensington in conjunction with the beginning of the “enforcement” phase of Parker’s five-part plan to restore order in the neighborhood. At the time, police leaders said the addition of the rookie cops would bring the area’s law enforcement presence to 120 officers.

Hudson said her office has not been briefed ahead of sweeps in the neighborhood, even though public defenders represent most of those detained on the streets of Kensington. She questioned whether police and the PDP have “a heightened duty” to seek out-of-jail solutions for individuals clearly using drugs.

“We think that until the jails are either up to staff or until there’s a medical assessment and hospitalization is a part of any process for anyone in Kensington,” Hudson added, “then no one should be taken to the Philadelphia Department of Prisons because they are not equipped to handle this population.”

Mitchell, the PDP spokesperson, said the jail system is prepared. He added that the department has “been in communication with PPD’s senior command” and received advanced notice of the Sept. 4. operation.

Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office declined to comment on a possible connection Cahill’s death and her strategy in Kensington.

PDP has been dealing with a staffing crisis; as of March, more than 800 correctional officer positions were unfilled. A federal judge, after finding the city to be in contempt of court for not meeting the conditions of a class action settlement, ordered the Parker administration in August to set aside $25 million to address conditions within the jails.

Rachel Santiago, of the Still We Rise Freedom Coalition, a group dedicated to reforming the criminal justice for women, trans and gender non-conforming people, said history shows that Cahill’s death was “entirely predictable and preventable.”

“The PDP is simply not capable of making sure people in custody are safe and healthy,” Santiago added, in a statement to Metro. “The dozens of other women with serious medical needs, from pregnancy complications to heart conditions, who are still locked up should be brought home immediately so they can receive the care they need.”