A mental health counselor is on site to support women locked up at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility Sunday, after another sudden death of an inmate on Saturday.
36-year old Ashley Hoath died at an Ann Arbor hospital, according to an MDOC spokeswoman.
“During the early morning hours, an officer noticed that Ms. Hoath was feeling unwell. The officer promptly escorted her to the healthcare area of the facility for assessment and care, where it was determined by medical staff to transfer her to the hospital by ambulance,” MDOC’s Jenni Riehle said in a written statement Sunday morning.
“Ms. Hoath was responsive at the time of the transfer,” she said.
Michigan State Police are already investigating the deaths of two other former inmates who died last month, 28-year old Khaira Howard and 57-year old Rebecca Fackler. Another former inmate, 54-year old Jennifer Wallace, died of sepsis last fall.
“For me, one was already too many. Four?” Democratic U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib said in a social media post Saturday.
Tlaib is part of a growing number of elected officials expressing growing concern about the conditions at Michigan’s only women’s prison. She and more than 30 other state lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter pressing for answers.
“The questions that we posed were questions that came from family members, from advocates, others that’ve been concerned about the conditions there,” Tlaib said.
“I’m just taken aback by Gov. Whitmer and those in charge of the care of these women not moving with the urgency that is needed. It’s obviously not working. We need to do more,” she said.
Whitmer’s office hasn’t yet responded to the latest death.
Michigan State Police said last week they’re waiting on autopsy and toxicology reports to complete investigations into Howard and Fackler’s deaths.
Emergency calls suggest overdose, but medical examiner says that’s been ruled out
Emergency calls to Washtenaw County’s central dispatch obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal few details about the deaths in May.
A medic from the non-profit Huron Valley Ambulance reported to dispatchers that the May 13 death was an overdose.
“All we know is that by the time (the prison) called us, they had given her Narcan and got compressions started,” the HVA medic said in the call.
Khaira Howard died that evening at the facility, just days before her scheduled release.
Daniel Spitz, the toxicologist performing the autopsy, said last week that although he doesn’t have the final results, he has ruled out the possibility that Howard’s death was caused by an overdose.
MDOC didn’t respond to specific questions about the possibility of an overdose.
MDOC Director Heidi Washington has been onsite at the facility, along with healthcare leadership, according to the department spokeswoman.
“Additional experienced clinical leadership from across the state have also been called to the facility to provide additional assistance while investigations are taking place. Full investigations include a mortality review, an autopsy conducted by an independent medical examiner, and an administrative investigation which includes a review of procedural compliance. The department is prioritizing the investigations and working to conclude them without delay,” Reihle wrote in a response to Michigan Public on Wednesday, before Hoath died this weekend.
