Live Breaking News & Updates on Shemera Latrice Ramsey

RACINE — A judge and prosecutors were OK with a Racine County Jail inmate being let out to be a pall bearer at his sister’s funeral. But the Wisconsin Department of Corrections intervened, keeping him behind bars instead of with his family to say his final goodbyes.
Unexpected tragedy
Ramsey
A lifelong sufferer from sickle cell anemia, Shemera Latrice Ramsey died suddenly at the age of 30 on May 15. Her family gathered for her funeral Friday morning. But Damien Bell, Ramsey’s brother who was supposed to be a pall bearer, wasn’t there.
Bell, 37, has been in the Racine County Jail since July. With his attorney’s help, he applied for a furlough. Inmates are allowed to leave incarceration for a short time for various reasons, such as to visit a sick loved one. Furloughs often are granted on a daily basis for someone facing a low-level charge to allow them to keep their job, with the requirement that they return to jail every night before they m ....

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