CHINO, Calif. – An inmate at a California prison gouged out her own eyeball and ate it while awaiting to receive medical treatment.
The female prisoner was incarcerated for an unknown reason at the California Institution for Women in Chino, KABC reports.
According to a California report that exposes flaws in the state's prison mental health care resources, the inmate was mentally healthy when she began her sentence, but refused to take prescribed medication after entering prison.
After being placed on suicide watch in 2017 due to repeated mental health issues, the woman reportedly entered a psychotic state.
At one point, the prisoner was lying on the floor and used her hand to remove her left eye. By the time officers arrived at her cell, the woman ate the eyeball.
Psychiatrists admit the inmate should have been forced to receive medication that she had previous refused.