VOLUME 6 ISSUE 22
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“A Legacy of Sacrifice” Pg A3 MAY 30 - JUNE 5, 2025
Medical records for Jacob Oakie confirm growing concerns for inmate medical care and use of force at Marion County Jail
Salvation Army considers suspension of emergency shelter services
By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
T
he death of a 39-year-old Ocala man in the Marion County Jail last year is highlighting concerns about the quality of care afforded those in the custody of the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office, which runs the facility. Records show that the number of deaths in custody at the jail is more than four times the national average. Jacob Oakie died after developing pneumococcal meningitis. He was transported by EMS from the jail’s infirmary, which is run by Heart of Florida, to AdventHealth Ocala on July 26. He was immediately placed in the ICU but was removed from life support two days later “due to the severity of the illness,” according to an MCSO report. Oakie was jailed on June 20 on a charge that he violated his probation from a November 2022 arrest for possession of methamphetamine. He was jailed after a urine test showed signs of amphetamine and methamphetamine use. MCSO jail records reflect Oakie was a nonviolent offender. Oakie’s family expressed gratitude to the hospital staff for their efforts to save him, but they want to know why the jail medical staff waited so long to have him moved to the hospital or to give him antibiotics to fight the infection. They also wonder why they only learned from a journalist, and not the MCSO, about the use of force by corrections officers on Oakie just two hours before he was brought to the hospital. Oakie is among 31 people who have died while in MCSO custody over the past four years. Some of the cases have involved the use of force by corrections officers, while other inmate deaths stem from illnesses that progressed under questionable medical care. In some cases, the inmates suffered from both a lack of medical care and the use of force.
Shown in this still from a video, Maj. Phillip Irish of the Ocala Salvation Army talks about the possibly of having to temporarily close the emergency shelter as Maj. Lynn Irish, right, looks on during the Ocala-Marion County Continuum of Care Board of Governors and General Membership Meetings in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/ Ocala Gazette] 2025.
“Financial strain on what were once dependable funding sources and strategies” cited, in part, in proposal. By Andy Fillmore andy@ocalagazette.com
L
eadership of the Ocala Salvation Army has proposed a suspension of emergency shelter services for up to a year at their downtown Center of Hope in order to regroup because of what has been called a “budgetary break point.” Maj. Phillip Irish of the Ocala operation proposed a temporary closure to review services and funding sources, which, according to a staff member, includes resident meals, at a meeting on May 27 of Ocala-Marion County Continuum of Care partner agencies and nonprofits that extend care to the homeless. The proposed suspension of emergency shelter services will be discussed for a final decision at a June 3 scheduled advisory board meeting. In a video of the meeting taken by the “Gazette,” Irish can be heard referring to “dwindling funds” and
See Oakie, page A4
Jacob Oakie at a family wedding. [Supplied]
See Salvation Army, page A4
Marion County’s maternity unit receives $4 million donation from the DeLuca Difference Foundation By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com Frank and Angela DeLuca tour the AdventHealth Ocala Mother/Baby Unit on May 27 ahead of announcing a transformational $4 million gift for the expansion and renovation of the hospital’s Mother/Baby Unit. (Photo courtesy: MAVEN Photo + Film)
READ DAILY NEWS AT OCALAGAZETTE.COM
M
embers of the community gathered at AdventHealth
hospital on May 27 to celebrate a gift of $4 million from the DeLuca Difference Foundation aimed at improving the experience of mothers and babies as well as those who work in the unit.
The beloved community hospital houses the only maternity unit in Marion County and has been operating for more than 125 years. Today nearly 2,500 new lives begin there
each year. AdventHealth, the current steward of the beloved community institution, applies an additional element to the See DeLuca page A6
INSIDE:
Schools staffing plan.................... A6 OPD radio contract...................... A7 Historic Black schools................. B1 “Backstreet” Season 2.................. B2 Calendar......................................... B6
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