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The mother of a mentally ill woman who died in the Pima County jail last May has sued the county and COPE Behavioral Health.

Lorrean Toni Patterson, 45, died May 7, 2006, about one week after being booked into the jail on suspicion of aggravated assault.

In a lawsuit filed last month in Pima County Superior Court, Patterson's mother, Mary Bellavance, claims jail personnel did not provide her daughter the medication she needed to battle bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The lawsuit also alleges COPE Behavioral failed to provide Patterson adequate psychiatric help before and during her incarceration.

The Pima County Attorney's Office has not yet seen the lawsuit, said Deputy Pima County Attorney Jim Wilkes. The county also has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

Calls to COPE's administrative offices were not returned.

An autopsy report prepared by forensic pathologist Dr. Eric Peters indicates Patterson died of heart disease and pulmonary emphysema.

Bellavance filed a $10 million claim against the county in October over her daughter's death.

According to the claim, Bellavance called 911 on April 29, 2006, after Patterson slapped her over a dispute about cigarettes.

Sheriff's deputies took Patterson to Northwest Hospital's emergency room, where she assaulted two nurses, the claim states.

Patterson was discharged from the hospital as her mother was on the phone seeking help to have her daughter taken to a mental-health facility, the claim states.

Minutes after her release, Patterson was arrested after spitting in a security guard's face.

Patterson wasn't given any medication after being booked into the jail because she refused to take a pregnancy test, according to the claim.

Over the next several days, she tried to get her daughter released so she could get psychiatric help but was unable to, Bellavance states in her claim.

Patterson died on May 7 and Bellavance later learned the charges against her daughter had been dropped May 5, the claim states.