Woman dies in police custody after child neglect arrest in Wayne County

Marchelle D. Sharkey, 37, of Ontario in Wayne County, died in police custody after a child welfare arrest in Walworth set off a fast-moving sequence that ended with emergency care at Newark-Wayne Community Hospital.

New York State Police said troopers and Wayne County Child Protective Services went to a home on Hennessey Road at about 3:50 p.m. on April 29 after a child welfare investigation. Investigators said multiple children had been left unattended for an extended period without adequate adult supervision or enough food. Sharkey was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Child Protective Services remained on scene to coordinate care for the children.

Sharkey was taken into custody without incident, processed at State Police Williamson and then transported to the Wayne County Jail for arraignment. Around 8 p.m., as troopers arrived at the jail, she became unresponsive inside the patrol vehicle. Troopers began emergency medical care immediately, including Narcan and use of an automated external defibrillator, while calling for EMS. She was then taken to Newark-Wayne Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the inquiry into the death. The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation was notified and responded, and Sharkey’s body was taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy. That chain of review is what now determines whether the death is ruled natural, accidental or otherwise, and whether any part of the arrest, transport or custody process needs closer scrutiny.

For agencies that serve Onondaga County, including local police departments and the sheriff’s office, the case is a reminder of the standards that matter most once a person is in custody: careful monitoring during transport, rapid recognition of medical distress, immediate use of lifesaving tools such as Narcan and an AED when indicated, and fast transfer to EMS. In a death that happens between booking and arraignment, those minutes, along with the records that document them, are often what investigators examine most closely.