A Michigan family is at odds with a local jail after a mother died less than 12 hours after being booked.

Authorities told Martha Stanley’s family she succumbed to cardiac arrest during her time in law enforcement hands, but according to Fox 2 Detroit, the family believes subpar conditions at Wayne County Jail contributed to her death.

"It was hot outside," Arthur Simpson, Stanley's son, told the station. "I saw them take her. And within 48 hours later, she is dead inside the jail. What happened? That's what I want to know."

Simpson says the family was in the process of bailing out the 59-year-old when they received news of her death. Stanley had a pre-existing heart condition and did not have her medication with her when she was jailed. Additionally, she was withdrawing from drug use. At one point, Stanley called her family to complain about the facility’s broken air conditioning.

“When you have a weather condition, and the cooling system in the jail isn't working like it should be, and it's hot like that and you have people with heat exhaustion, you can't breathe right, what can you do?" Simpson added. "You ask them and you don't get it, then what do you do?"

The mother of another inmate says her son called her to complain about the heat, too.

Ultimately, Stanley's family believes the staff dropped the ball.

"She needed medical treatment, and she didn't get it, clearly," Simpson said.

The Wayne County Sherriff’s Office confirmed there was a death and said they were working to get portable air conditioners in the jail until the air conditioning system is repaired.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy on Stanley to determine the exact cause of her passing.

Martha Stanley

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