Metro Mother Commits Suicide After Child Sex Abuse Arrest

<p>Oklahoma County inmate, Joanna Cortez, was found unresponsive in her cell on Thursday afternoon.&nbsp;</p>

Friday, September 23rd 2016, 7:49 pm

By: News 9


Oklahoma County inmate, Joanna Cortez, was found unresponsive in her cell on Thursday afternoon.

The 39-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday, charged for enabling sex abuse on her own children. Police say she allowed 33-year-old Johnny Samples to rape her two daughters.

“In both cases, the mother was present while the girls were being sexually assaulted,” said Officer Travis Vernier. He said the 17-year-old girl is autistic. Police reports show the girl was raped for approximately two years.

Vernier says the 9-year-old daughter was also sexually assaulted by Samples on multiple occasions in front of her mom. The police report shows she was forced to watch her mom have sex with ten different men, forced to watch pornographic movies, forced to eat out of a trash can, and beat with an extension cord and a hanger.

“These girls did nothing to deserve the type of abuse they endured,” said Officer Vernier.

On Tuesday, both Samples and Cortez were booked into the Oklahoma County Jail after months of investigation.

Mark Opgrande, Public Information Officer for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, said, “In this case, she was put on suicide watch immediately when she came in.”

Opgrande said this is protocol by the nature of her serious charges. “They come in here and their whole life is turned upside down. So they’re trying to go through this adjusting period of what is my life going to be now? What do I do next? So we like to monitor those people for several days sometimes,” he said.

The day after Cortez was arrested, the mental health staff evaluated her in jail. Opgrande said the staff determined that she could be moved to a single cell and monitored every 30 minutes.

At 1:37 on Thursday afternoon, Cortez was seen alive and alert. At 2:05 p.m., a deputy found her unresponsive in her cell.

The medical examiner confirms she committed suicide. The cause of death is asphyxiation by hanging.

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