Despite Conservatorship Protections and Repeated Warnings, a Vulnerable Woman Was Discharged to the Streets — and Later Died
Advocates Say Her Case Exposes a Deadly System of Neglect
On a chilly December afternoon in 2024, staff at a small Skid Row harm-reduction center watched in disbelief as one of their longtime participants, a probate-conserved woman named Jamie Louise Kreitzburg, was released from Los Angeles General Medical Center. Her conservator had begged doctors not to discharge her, warning she was too impaired to survive on her own. Advocates stood by the phone, calling frantically to stop it. But by the time they reached the charge nurse, Jamie was gone.
“She has nowhere to go, and you’re discharging her to a tent,” one advocate recalls telling the hospital. The nurse manager didn’t argue. She admitted it needed to be reported.
Who Jamie Was and Why She Needed Protection
Jamie was 39 years old, struggling with a complex mix of conditions: Sturge-Weber syndrome, bipolar II disorder, and neurosyphilis. She had the mentality of a child, her advocates said, and lived much of her adult life on Skid Row, often targeted by men who raped, beat, and manipulated her.
In January 2024, the Los Angeles Superior Court granted her parents, Wendy and Michael Naylor, a limited conservatorship over her. The order granted them explicit legal authority over her medical care, including the right to place her in locked facilities or board-and-care homes. Under California conservatorship law (§2356.5), no hospital was permitted to release her without the conservator’s permission.
Jamie holds a Barbie bakery playset during a shopping trip arranged by The Sidewalk Project.
What Happened Behind Hospital Doors
On December 18, 2024, Jamie stormed into The Sidewalk Project’s drop-in center naked, screaming, throwing rocks, and attempting to strangle staff with a scarf. Soma Snakeoil, the nonprofit’s co-founder, called 911. Jamie was transported by the Mental Evaluation Unit to Los Angeles General Hospital on a 5150 psychiatric hold…