A former Garvin County Jail detention deputy has been convicted by a federal jury on charges she was deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of pretrial detainee Kayla Turley, while Turley was housed in the Garvin County Jail in August of 2023, resulting in bodily injury to Turley and ultimately her death.
Paula Kelley was convicted of one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242, on June 12 by a jury in the Western District of Oklahoma, following two hours of jury deliberation.
Kelley and four other detention deputies – Jennifer Baxter, Melissa Melton, Alesha Ingram and Vincent Matthews – were indicted on the charges in December 2024. A Turn Key Health Nurse working at the jail, Lynsee Noel, was also indicted.
Baxter, Melton, Ingram, Matthews and Noel all entered guilty pleas as part of plea agreements in the case earlier this year.
According to the prosecution’s case presented at trial, Kelley was on duty as a GCJ detention deputy when she learned that Turley was facing serious medical needs. Despite knowing and observing Turley’s serious medical needs, prosecutors argued Kelley willfully failed to take any reasonable steps to abate those needs. Due to the alleged failure to act by Kelley and other GCJ staff, including Turn Key Health Nurse Noel, Turley suffered bodily injury and ultimately died at Norman Regional Medical Center on Aug. 9, 2023.
“Correctional officers have a legal and moral obligation to ensure that individuals in their custody receive necessary medical care,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma, in a press release following the conviction. “When that duty is deliberately ignored, resulting in serious harm or death, there must be accountability. This conviction, and the guilty pleas of four other correctional employees and one correctional nurse, affirms the importance of protecting the constitutional rights of those held in our detention facilities.”
Kelley faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The other five defendants in the case previously pleaded guilty to violations of 18 U.S.C. § 242 for their roles in being deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious harm to Ms. Turley. Detention Deputy Jennifer Baxter and former GCJ nurse Lynsee Noel each pleaded guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 242 based on their failure to take reasonable measures to help Ms. Turley get medical care for her serious medical needs. In addition, defendants Baxter and Noel – along with former Detention Deputies Vincent Matthews and Alesha Ingram – have each pleaded guilty to being deliberately indifferent to Ms. Turley’s safety when they failed to intervene and stop other inmates from assaulting Ms. Turley after the inmates became frustrated with Ms. Turley’s cries for help.
Former Detention Deputy Melissa Melton pleaded guilty to one violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242 for being deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious harm to Ms. Turley due to her serious medical needs, resulting in bodily injury to Ms. Turley.
According to their plea agreements, Baxter, Noel, Matthews, Ingram, and Melton face a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
No sentencing date has been set.
While the Sheriff’s Office has declined to make any comment on the court cases or their outcome, when the indictments were first issued in December 2024, Sheriff Jim Mullett said the situation had been a hard one for his office.
“We are deeply committed to upholding the trust that the people of Garvin County have placed in this office,” Mullett said in a written statement released at the time. “Our office has completely cooperated with all investigating agencies throughout this process and will continue to do so.”
In July of 2025, Turley’s sister filed a civil lawsuit related to her death. Noel, Baxter, Melton, Ingram, Kelley and Matthews are all named as defendants in that litigation, as well as the Garvin County Sheriff, in his official capacity, and Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC.