Updated Tuesday, Oct. 18 with response from Yamhill County counsel

A woman who tried to kill herself last week in a Yamhill County jail holding cell -- her second apparent suicide attempt that day -- died Saturday at a hospital, according to deputies and an attorney representing the woman's family.

Debbie Samples

Debbie Samples of Sheridan, who had multiple misdemeanor warrants out of Lake County, was booked Wednesday into the Yamhill County Correctional Facility, according to deputies and court records. Deputies had responded to Samples' parents' home earlier that day after her mother found her unconscious of an apparent suicide attempt, said attorney Amanda Marshall.

Marshall, of law firm Johnstone & Goodfellow in McMinnville, said deputies knew Samples had a history of multiple suicide attempts. Samples, 52, had also been admitted to hospitals numerous times this year because of mental health problems, Marshall said.

Marshall said Samples was conscious, walking and intoxicated when deputies arrived at the Sheridan home -- where they had been called because Samples' mother phoned 911 for medical help.

Deputies at some point arrested Samples, and a deputy assured her family she'd be taken to a hospital, said Marshall, also a former U.S. Attorney for Oregon.

Marshall said her understanding from the family is that Samples was taken to a hospital, which released her to custody with instructions she'd be on suicide watch. Marshall said she didn't know if Samples was on suicide watch while in a holding cell. Samples made phone calls to family members from jail, Marshall said.

Deputies said in a news release Monday she apparently tried to commit suicide using a phone cord in the cell, which they also described as a "holding room." They said deputies found her unresponsive shortly after she was placed in the cell.

Marshall said Samples didn't have a pulse when responders started tending to her, that they performed CPR for about 8 minutes and got a pulse, and that Samples didn't have any brain activity when she was taken to the hospital. Samples' family decided not to pursue life-saving measures, Marshall said.

A Yamhill County Sheriff's Office spokesman largely referred questions to the county's counsel, who had no additional comment Tuesday. Marshall said she's representing Samples' family in settling her estate and in consideration of a wrongful death lawsuit and any other lawsuits that might be filed against Yamhill County and other possible defendants.

Yamhill County Sheriff Tim Svenson said in a statement that he's asked the Washington County Sheriff's Office "to conduct a detailed investigation into the circumstances of this incident."

Capt. Chris Ray, a Yamhill County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the investigation is being handled externally for the sake of transparency. He said external agency investigations can at times better determine what transpired and whether procedures could have been performed differently. He said investigators can recommend changes, as well.

Samples was born in Roseburg and raised in Sheridan, where she was a star three-sport athlete, Marshall said. She has a 24-year-old daughter who lives in Pennsylvania, Marshall said, as well as a cat. She has three siblings who also live in Sheridan.

Samples' family remembers her as humorous and fun to be around, Marshall said. Samples played piano, cooked, loved to knit and was a big San Francisco Giants baseball fan.

She will have a private service, Marshall said.

-- Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015