Keith Baxter is a 54 year old African American Male who has Mental and Physical Health Issues. Before being arrested he was in San Joaquin County Hospital and Saint Joseph's Hospital in Critical Care. Both Hospitals against the wishes of his family released him to Homeless Shelters. At one of the Shelters he was involved in an Altercation and was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. He should not have been released to Homeless Shelters after spending weeks in an ICU with Pneumonia. It is difficult to believe that he would have attacked anyone because he has no history of violence. San Joaquin County Jail has Keith in Isolation and in a letter to his mother stated that they will not allow him to make calls or shower and he is being harrassed. The concern is that he is being over medicated and is not able to call his family. He tried to call one time and the call did not go through and his mother was told to put money on the phone. She has since added money to the phone but no calls or letters have come from Keith. We want Keith to be released to his mothers care or to community care and to have him tested for the corona virus. We want his family to over see him Mental and physical health needs. He is vulnerable to the Coronavirus after being in the ICU for almost a month before being arrested.
Why is this important?
My son Keith Baxter after spending several weeks in the ICU of two hospitals in San Joaquin County (where he lived), was dumped twice into Homeless Shelters. He was not homeless as he had lived in the same residence for over 3 years. His payee stopped paying his rent and he was evicted. When he went into the Hospital we were first told that he was critical and may not live. When I knew he was going to live I started making plans to get a bigger place and told the Social Worker he would eventually live with me. The Day before he was released I was told that he was not going to a nursing home because the Doctors said he was okay for General release. The worker who called himself James said if I wanted him in a nursing home then I better pay for it. This was after only 2 days of being out of the ICU and we were scrambling for solutions. The next day they agreed he could go into respite care but that is not what happened. They, San Joaquin County Hospital, dumped him into a Homeless Shelter after telling his family he would be going to Respite Care. Within a week he was back in the ICU at Saint Joseph's Hospital with Pneumonia and sepsis. Although their Social Worker stated he would be going to a nursing home he was again released to a Homeless Shelter. While there he was involved in an altercation with 4 persons and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. He is now in San Joaquin County Jail and his bail is $400, 000, an impossible amount for us to pay even at 10 percent. Since he has been at the jail (march 26th), only one phone call was made to his family and the operator hung up because there was no money on the phone. A letter Keith wrote stated that he was in isolation and not being allowed to shower or call and that he was being harrassed. Our concern is that he is being over medicated and may not be able to participate in his defense. We believe that he should be released either to community care or family care. We would also like to know Keiths side of the story as to what happened when he was arrested. After sending emails to his Public Defender he has not contacted the family in regards to Keith Baxter's case.
Aftican Amercans are at High risk for Coronavirus and Keith is an African American male who was hospitalized with Coronavirus symptoms. He was not tested for Coronavirus by San Joaquin County Hospital or Saint Joseph's Hospital. San Joaquin County Jail is keeping Keith from contacting his family. He is accused of a crime and has no history of violence and the courts purposely set a High Bail. We believe it is in the best interest of Keith and the Public At Large that he be tested and treated (if he is positive for corona), for the virus just as any other citizen. He is and was not homeless and had Health Care that would have paid for him to be in a nursing home and the Hospital instead chose to dump him in a Homeless Shelter (Dumbing Patients in Homeless Shelters is against California Law). The Hospitals committed Illegal acts and Keith Baxter a mentally Ill at risk Adult is paying the price. We are demanding that he be released to his family! We do not believe that a White Person would receive the same treatment if they were at risk for the corona virus. San Joaquin County is not releasing a breakdown of how many are affected by the coronaviruse in the county or the Jail. They should be releasing the number of coronavirus infections in the County as wlle as the Jail and also should break infections down according to race.
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How it will be delivered
We Will have a press conference.
