A woman whose premature newborn died in 2022 after she gave birth at the county jail in downtown Syracuse, New York, has received $100,000 from Onondaga County.

The family of Cheree Byrd reached the settlement more than three years after her traumatic labor at the Onondaga County Justice Center, Syracuse.com reports.

Byrd was being held on a misdemeanor petit larceny warrant, which was later dismissed by Syracuse police, when she went into labor and gave birth on Aug. 2, 2022, to a premature girl who was later pronounced dead after receiving medical care.

In a lawsuit filed in September 2023 against the county, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, then-Sheriff Eugene Conway, and jail medical providers NaphCare and Proactive Healthcare Medicine, Byrd said that her baby would have survived had she received proper medical care.

Byrd, who was three months pregnant at the time of her arrest on June 1, 2022, claimed she was forced to go through labor alone in her cell for hours before receiving medical care, claiming correctional officers and jail medical staff delayed treatment, ignored clear warning signs of serious complications, and dismissed her reports that she was in labor.

According to the lawsuit, Byrd repeatedly told jail staff for days that she was in pain, bleeding, and in labor but was given only Tylenol and tampons.

On Aug. 2, despite being placed in an observation cell due to a history of premature labor, she said officers dismissed her pleas for help after her water broke. A deputy later found her in active labor during routine rounds. An ambulance was called, and Byrd gave birth shortly afterward. The newborn was taken to Upstate University Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

The lawsuit accused jail staff of failing to take Byrd’s concerns seriously, arguing that proper care could have prevented the premature birth.

NaphCare, which provided medical services at the jail at the time, was replaced after its contract ended in 2023. It had been cited by state regulators for care deficiencies following a 2021 inmate suicide. Byrd’s family also reached a separate settlement with Proactive HealthCare Inc., a NaphCare subsidiary.

“We are deeply saddened by these events and wish Ms. Byrd and her family health and healing in moving forward,” a NaphCare spokesperson said in a statement. “NaphCare previously reached a settlement in this case, the terms of which are confidential.”

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