After taking a hot shower, Jessica Dixon, 27, an inmate at the Hernando County Detention Center, complained to other inmates that she was having trouble breathing. On Aug 20 at approximately 9:55 p.m. Dixon was transported by wheelchair to the medical unit at the Detention Center.
Upon arrival in the medical unit, Dixon appeared to be hyperventilating and was cool and clammy to the touch. The contract physician, who was on site, immediately began to examine Dixon. The physician determined that Dixon was seriously ill and needed to be immediately transported by ambulance to the hospital.
Hernando County Fire Rescue was summoned to the Detention Center for treatment and transport. HCFR transported Dixon to Bayfront Health in Brooksville where she was pronounced deceased at 11:17 p.m.
An autopsy was performed on Dixon by the Medical Examiner in Leesburg, Florida and found that the cause of death was Pulmonary Embolus and Infective Endocarditis. According to relatives, Dixon had a long history of IV drug abuse.
The case is closed with the death being listed as natural.