City of Tulsa lockup facility death

(TULSA, Okla.) On January 2, 2020, at 6:50pm, Ms. Lawanda Ward was booked into the City of Tulsa Lockup Facility by TPD Officers for 6 outstanding City misdemeanor warrants, including warrants for failure to appear. That same evening at 10:30pm, an additional City warrant was identified and added, bringing the total to 7 municipal warrants. The City of Tulsa Lockup Facility is managed and operated by G4S Secure Solutions pursuant to a contract with the City of Tulsa.   On January 6, 2020, at approximately 8:30am, Ms. Ward was found unresponsive in her cell by G4S personnel and she was transported to an area hospital where she was later pronounced dead.   In response to earlier press inquiries, TPD had initially reported that Ms. Ward had turned herself in at the City Lockup Facility. It has however now been confirmed that she was booked by TPD Officers into the Lockup Facility following her arrest for the six (6) outstanding Municipal warrants at the scene of an unrelated grand larceny.   The Tulsa Police Department has requested that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI) conduct a full independent investigation of this incident.