Premature baby boy dies after he was born on a Texas prison cell floor
Shaye Bear, who is in jail for drug offences, was only five months pregnant when she went into labor at Ellis County Jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas, on Thursday
The Texas inmate who gave birth on the floor of her cell just five months in to her pregnancy has turned off her son's life support.
Shaye Bear, 25, went into labor at Ellis County Jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas, earlier this month.
Bear, an admitted meth addict who was jailed on drug charges, claimed she asked prison officers for medical attention but was ignored because they thought she was making her symptoms up.
'I was laughed at, made fun of, berated, dehumanized,' Bear told WFAA of her ordeal. 'I was treated like an animal.'
After delivering her son Cashh, who Bear said weighed just one pound and was purple when he 'flew out of her on to the mat' on the floor of her cell, he was airlifted to Cook's Children Medical Center.
He was taken off life support on Saturday.
Bear, who was released on $5,000 bond before his death, said the infant was suffering a bleed on his brain and his lungs were not developed enough for him to breathe on his own.
Her son Cashh (pictured) was one pound at birth and purple, Bear claims. He was airlifted to hospital but had his life support turned off on Saturday
She claimed doctors told her family the conditions in which Cashh was born played a role in his early death.
The infant was baptized before Bear turned off the life support, and died in her arms.
The 25-year-old, who has two other children, said while the decision to turn off the machines keeping her son alive was difficult, she 'didn't want to see him in pain'.
She has threatened to file a lawsuit against those she believes failed to provide proper medical attention while she was going through labor.
'My child is deceased, due to the lack of medical care and attention that's supposed to be given by these detention officers,' Bear said.
Bear said she had spent hours screaming out in pain when she went into labor, only to be ignored.
'The guards would walk by and tell me they wouldn't do nothing for me until I had that baby in that cell,' she said.
The 25-year-old said that she was screaming for hours but the guards refused to help her because they thought she was faking it
When Cashh was born, Bear says he was purple and guards took 'a long time' to attend to her.
The Texas woman said she knew she had to suck the fluid out of her baby's mouth and nose with her own mouth while she waited for help.
When guards did eventually respond, Bear said one of them asked if 'she had reached inside of herself and pulled the baby out.'
The sheriff's office is investigating but said they had records showing that Bear was treated for the duration of her pregnancy.
A prison official who didn't want to be named said investigators believed Bear induced her own labor.
'She made no secret to other inmates in the jail that she didn't want that baby,' the official said.
She gave birth to her second son 21 months ago in hospital while she was an inmate at Dallas County Jail. Bear also has an eight-year-old son.