Tammy Jackson, who changed law after giving birth in Broward jail, has died

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Tammy Jackson, who gave birth all alone in a Broward jail — a case that led to a change in Florida law — has died, family members tell Local 10 News.

Jackson delivered a baby girl in a Broward County jail cell last year, telling Local 10 afterward that the experience was “horrifying.”

It led to the Tammy Jackson Act, signed into law this June, which calls for pregnant inmates who go into labor to be transported to a hospital.

“It’s in her name,” Jackson’s mother Shirley Nixon said at the time of the new law. “That’s going to be forever.”

Jackson, who suffered from bipolar schizophrenia, had been jailed at the North Broward Bureau in Pompano Beach for trespassing and drug charges when she gave birth to her daughter Miranda.

Few details have been released about her death at this point.

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About the Authors:

Nicole Perez is the the primary co-anchor of Local 10 News at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. She first joined Local 10 in July 2016 as the morning traffic reporter.