A 36-year-old woman is the third inmate to die within three weeks at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility.
Ashley Hoath died on Saturday after she was rushed to Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital. Michigan Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jenni Riehle said in a statement that Hoath was initially moved to the prison's health care facility after she felt ill.
State Representative Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia), who has advocated for better conditions at the facility, said she learned of Hoath’s death just one day after visiting the prison.
“My immediate reaction was one of incredible sadness. I was there the night before, I had left at about 7pm, and at some point, in the next 12 hours or so, a young woman died.”
Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington visited the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility at the end of May after demands for action following the deaths of several inmates. Pohutsky said the visit clearly has not worked, the problems continue.
“The department had just indicated that, at some point in the early morning hours, Ashley had stated that she was ill and was throwing up. They attempted to intervene on site and transferred her to a hospital where she, I believe their words were, ‘deteriorated and passed.’ So, I only have that from the department. I have what the women have relayed, but that hasn't yet been confirmed by the department and I'm not sure that it will be.”
At least four deaths have been reported at Michigan prisons within the past month, three at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Keira Howard and Rebecca Fackler died within days of each other. Last November, Jennifer Wallace died at the facility after contracting sepsis from an infection.
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