Contact: Officer Mike Wood, PIO, mwood@cityofpensacola.com
Last month on July 8th, 14 year old Jasmine Singletary was taken to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital by her mother for treatment of an infection. Jasmine Singletary is a special needs patient with a neuromuscular disorder. On this particular visit she was admitted to the hospital.
On July 13th, Jasmine was in her hospital room with her mother, Jessica Bortle. Jasmine’s grandmother was also in the room. Jasmine unexpectedly lost consciousness and stopped breathing. Hospital staff began life saving procedures, but those efforts were unsuccessful and she died.
An autopsy was conducted, and on July 21st, the Pensacola Police Department was contacted by the Medical Examiner’s Office. The autopsy showed that Jasmine had suffered massive injuries to her ribs and her liver. Injuries that were not present when she was admitted to the hospital.
The Medical Examiner indicated that the injuries were so severe that Jasmine would have died only minutes after receiving them, and that they had to have occurred while Jasmine was confined to her hospital bed.
Pensacola Police Investigators interviewed Jasmine’s mother, Jessica Bortle, and determined that the injuries that caused the death of Jasmine were committed by her mother. Jessica Bortle has been charged with manslaughter in the death of her daughter.
Our goal is to continue to work closely with the State Attorney’s Office in the prosecution of this case. The Pensacola Police Department extends its deepest sympathies to the family of Jasmine Singletary.