Woman dies in Kootenai County jail, investigation ongoing

COEUR d’ALENE — After a woman died while in custody at the Kootenai County jail last month, the cause of her death remains under investigation.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Joey Campbell, 44, of Worley, died in jail May 30. The Coeur d’Alene Police Department is investigating the death.

Campbell was a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and a mother of two. 

Her mother, Leta Campbell, said tribal authorities informed her that her daughter had been found unresponsive. Since then, she said, few details have emerged and the family is waiting for answers. 

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department confirmed this week that detectives examined the scene. The coroner’s report is not yet complete. 

Leta Campbell said the decision to have her daughter autopsied was the most difficult one she’s ever made. Members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe don’t ordinarily undergo autopsies, she said. 

“It was horrible, because asking for an autopsy goes against everything I’ve ever been taught and everything I believe in,” she said. “I believe in the sanctity of our bodies. I believe in our cultural and religious practices immediately after someone passes.” 

But without an autopsy, she would never know for sure how and why her daughter died. 

“I wanted justice for Joey, so I agreed to an autopsy,” she said. 

Leta Campbell said her daughter struggled with mental illness and had completed an inpatient treatment program just five days before she was arrested on a trespassing charge. Joey Campbell had no physical ailments that were known to her family. 

“I think you have to be a really strong person and a brave person to deal with mental illness,” her mother said. “You have to be strong because people don’t understand. They don’t want to look at it.” 

Joey Campbell is the only person to die in the Kootenai County jail this year, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Last year, Investigate West reported that five people had died in the Kootenai County jail between 2021 and 2024. Three of those people died by suicide, one died due to an overdose and one died from natural causes.