R. Kelly Hospitalized After Alleged Overdose In Prison

R. Kelly, the disgraced R&B star who is now in prison serving a 30-year sentence after he was convicted of charges that include sex trafficking, was hospitalized this week after an overdose in his prison cell, according to news reports. The singer's lawyers filed a claim on June 17, claiming that Kelly's June 13 overdose was the result of prison staffers giving him medication.

The 56-year-old musician is serving time in a federal prison in North Carolina for racketeering, bribery, coercion, and sex trafficking. His legal team's filing gives a minute-by-minute recollection of the moments leading to the overdose, offering new information about the nature of his hospitalization.

Earlier this month, according to the court papers, R. Kelly was placed in solitary confinement, though his lawyers stress that the move was not at his request. They argue that the period of solitary confinement may have taken a toll on his condition. Three days following this insertion, on June 13, Kelly reported feeling light-headed and dizzy. His attorneys recount how Kelly woke up feeling dizzy and faint.

The filing also says Kelly tried to sit in his bed but fell, crawling to his cell door in a failed effort to summon help. But his condition soon worsened, and he lapsed into a coma. Due to his unconsciousness, a helicopter was immediately dispatched to pick him up and take him to Duke University Hospital, where he remained for 2 days to receive medical treatment.

Prison authorities have not confirmed the precise cause of Kelly's overdose, but his attorneys maintain that the medication Kelly received was administered by prison staff. His lawyers had also taken issue with the quality of his treatment, which they have called into question, given the severity of his illness. The filing was an indication that Kelly's situation may have been made worse by the rigors of solitary confinement, which are known to take a severe toll on an inmate's mental and physical health.

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Kelly's hospitalization has stoked conversation about how to treat high-profile inmates and the medical treatment such inmates receive while in custody. Critics have voiced fears that the worst abuse will go on out of sight of the cameras behind prison walls, particularly in the case of an inmate already convicted of horrific and high-profile crimes. But Kelly's lawyers argue that the overdose underscores the prison system's failure to keep inmates, no matter their crime, safe while in its custody.

With R. Kelly behind bars, how he is treated as he serves his sentence remains to be seen. His hospitalization also has raised questions about inmate health care and the challenges inmates face behind bars, particularly those convicted of more serious crimes. This case also reflects on many of the potential dangers of medication errors in prisons and the overall conditions to which those held in custody streets are subjected.

Following the incident, R. Kelly's lawyers are calling for a probe into the circumstances of the singer's drug overdose, including the delivery of medication. They say that their client was made more vulnerable as a direct result of what the prison did or neglected to do and is not responsible for the medical emergency he suffered.

As the saga around Kelly develops, the public is split in their interpretation of the overdose incident. Some interpret that as a descent of a life out of control, while others see it as a cautionary tale about accountability both among law enforcement and how the incarcerated are treated. In the meantime, R. Kelly has been receiving medical treatment, and his lawyers closely monitor the situation.