NORFOLK, Va. — The death of a Norfolk City Jail inmate just over a week ago left a family devastated.
Since Darryl Arnold was booked into the Norfolk City Jail on March 1, his family said they talked to him every morning.
"I waited on Friday, you know, expecting a call around 8 or 9 a.m. He never called," said his sister, Latashia Person.
She said that’s when she knew something was wrong.
Person and Arnold's mother, Mary, said he’d been complaining about chills and shortness of breath to the family and to jail staff in the days leading up to his death.
The Norfolk Sheriff’s Office said they were alerted that Arnold was having a "medical emergency" in the early hours of March 8. He was transported to the jail's medical ward before being taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead just seven hours later.
"My son just didn’t have the opportunity to say goodbye to anybody," said his mother. "We are devastated."
The family tells 13News Now that someone in the medical examiner’s office reached out to them directly to tell them Arnold had bacterial meningitis, based on their lab results. Meningitis is an inflammation of the fluid and membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The family believes he contracted the infection from inside the jail because he'd just had a physical with his doctor before getting arrested and was healthy.
"Because we know it wasn’t a good place where he went, but it should not have taken his life," said Mary.
A spokesperson with the Sheriff's Office has confirmed there was a case of bacterial meningitis within the jail, but have not said whether Arnold was the infected inmate.
However, in a separate press release, they call the unnamed inmate with meningitis a “former inmate.” Both the confirmed infection and the inmate death were on March 8, according to the two press releases from the Sheriff's Office.
The family said they have concerns about why the staff was notified of the medical emergency at 2:44 a.m., but he wasn’t taken to the hospital for another two hours, at 4:44 a.m.
"I feel that my child was ignored," said Mary. "And that he did not get the proper care that he should’ve gotten."
The Sheriff's Office said in a press release that Arnold was awake, alert, and speaking to staff upon moving him to the jail's medical ward. The family said one of Arnold's doctors at the hospital told them he was basically in a comatose state when he arrived.
They also claim that only Arnold's ex-wife was officially notified of his death. The family said Arnold's 14-year-old son was the one who answered the door and was the first to learn of his father's death.
Arnold’s twin brother, Darrick Arnold, said the news was devastating.
"I was hurt. I mean, I was hurt because I was waiting on his phone call," he said.
They describe Arnold as a hard worker and a loving father to his seven children.
In an email to 13News Now, the medical examiner’s office said the official cause of death is still pending. Norfolk Police, who are handling the death investigation, are calling this an "undetermined death."
A spokesperson with the Sheriff's Office said they gave 87 inmates and staff members antibiotics to stop the spread of the infection, and 10 refused the treatment. They also said there were no other confirmed cases.
The Norfolk Department of Public Health officials say they’ve seen an uptick in meningitis cases since 2022.
The same infection, but different strain, killed a Hampton elementary schooler last week. School officials said the Asbury Elementary School student died from streptococcal group A meningitis, a rare form of an already rare infection.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, since June 2022, there have been 35 reported cases across the state. In our area, there have been a little over 20 cases in the past two years. Before two years ago, the health department said they’d typically see a couple of cases per year and about 10% turn out to be severe.
Arnold's family said they will see his body for the first time during the visitation Wednesday. They plan to bury him on Thursday.