Crime & Safety

Anna Brown Petition Gathers Thousands of Names After Jail Death in Richmond Heights

The woman died in a Richmond Heights jail cell last year, and people are going online to demand health-care access for Americans from President Barack Obama.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the home city of Jonathan Dedering. He is from Madison, WI. This article has been updated to reflect the correct city.

More than 12,500 people have signed an online health-care petition formed after , the website Change.org notes.

Brown died shortly after police took her from to the city's detention facility on Dale Avenue. She died of blood clots, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigation, though police initially thought she might have been using drugs.

"In the memory of Anna Brown, we demand access to adequate health care for all Americans," the petition directed at President Barack Obama states.

An attorney for the city had to go on what medical officials told them.

As of 3:36 p.m., 12,520 people had signed the petition, which aims to collect 15,000 names.

The petition links to a Facebook page called Justice for Anna Brown, which garnered 7,808 'Likes' as of 2:20 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Clayton-Richmond Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The website lists Jonathan Dedering of Madison*, WI, as the petition's founder. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Get the free Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch newsletter.)

Find out what's happening in Clayton-Richmond Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

More about Anna Brown on Patch:

Have you signed the Anna Brown petition? Tell us why by posting a comment to this article.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Clayton-Richmond Heights