A 26-year-old licensed vocational nurse was arrested Friday evening in connection with the July 1 death of a Bi-State Justice Center inmate, according to a Texarkana, Ark., Police Department press release.
"Johnson was the LVN treating (Morgan) Angerbauer at the time she died," Bennett said.
On June 28, three days before her death, Angerbeauer, 20, of Texarkana, Ark., was arrested on an outstanding probation revocation warrant that was issued in Miller County circuit court, according to a July 1 Gazette report.
The Gazette report went on to state that Angerbauer had been serving a five-year term of probation for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia when officials filed a petition to revoke her probation, alleging failure to report, failure to pay court-ordered monies and failure to participate in special programs.
Angerbauer was "found alone in her cell, and in what appears to be medical distress by the jail nursing staff and corrections officers shortly after 4 a.m.," Bennett said later that morning. "Efforts to revive Angerbauer were made without success."
Her body was sent to the Arkansas Medical Examiner's Office in Little Rock for an autopsy, which showed no evidence of physical trauma that would have resulted in death, Bennett said Friday.
"Toxicology testing resulted in the discovery of evidence that supported the medical examiner's findings at autopsy," Bennett said. "According to Dr. Jennifer Forsyth, medical examiner, Morgan Angerbauer's cause of death was ruled as diabetic ketoacidosis."
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a buildup of acids in the blood and can happen when a person's blood sugar is too high for too long, according to WebMD's online diabetes guide at webmd.com/diabetes/type-1-diabetes-guide/ketoacidosis.
The condition usually happens when someone doesn't have enough insulin in their body, according to the guide.
"Based on facts revealed during the investigation conducted by (TAPD), and upon consultation with the prosecuting attorney's office, an arrest warrant affidavit was prepared for Brittany Johnson," Bennett said.
According to reports, Bi-State Justice Building Jail is under contract and administered by LaSalle Corrections, which is a developer and operator of correctional centers throughout Louisiana, Texas and Georgia.
According to its website, lasallecorrections.com, Lasalle manages 18 facilities with a total inmate capacity of more than 13,000 and has more than 1,250 employees at these locations.