Woman dies in Lowell Police custody; Middlesex DA makes recommendations to Department

On January 13, 2013, Alyssa Brame was arrested and booked at the Lowell Police Department. Officers observed that she was highly intoxicated. The officers placed her into a holding cell. Later that night, an officer found her unresponsive. She had died of alcohol poisoning, which is preventable if treated in a timely manner.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office investigated the death and concluded that since no one person had acted recklessly, criminal charges were not warranted. However, the DA’s Office took the unusual step of suggesting that the Lowell Police Department alter some of their procedures to better ensure the well-being of detainees. The recommendations of the DA’s Office recognize that Ms. Brame’s death was a preventable tragedy and that when police officers take away people’s liberty, they must do all they can do to help those people if they are in need of medical assistance. 

The Lowell Sun published the official statement of the DA’s Office, which includes their recommendations to the Lowell Police Department.

We represent Alyssa Brame’s mother, Alice Swiridowsky-Muckle, in her attempts to obtain the surveillance videos that recorded Alyssa’s custody and death as well as the police reports. (Read the Lowell Sun article here.)