Women formerly incarcerated at Huron Valley Correctional Facility speak out after 3rd death reported
Michigan lawmakers and women who were formerly incarcerated at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti are looking for answers after three women died at the facility in the past month.
The most recent death happened this past Saturday.
Two women who served their sentence at the facility claim waiting to see a doctor was just one barrier to getting healthcare. They say it's tragic that three deaths in one month are what it takes to get the attention of people who can change the system.
"They have 30 days to see you. If that appointment gets missed, you're starting over again. If you ask anybody who's been incarcerated at The Valley, we don't call it healthcare, we call it death care," said Kelly Jones, who served a sentence from 2010 to 2018.
Jones says she crossed paths with Rebecca Fackler, one of the three women who died at the facility.
"Knowing her (Fackler) the way I know her, why didn't you listen to her. Those officers knew her well. They knew if she said, 'I'm going to healthcare, something's wrong,' something's wrong, because nothing could stop her," she said.
The Michigan Department of Corrections says it is still investigating the cause of death for Fackler, Khaira Howard, who died four days earlier on May 13, and Ashley Hoath, who died Saturday morning after being taken to the hospital.
Another woman who served time with Fackler, Lee Ann Mansfield, claims the healthcare issues at Huron Valley can turn a prison sentence into a death sentence.
"I'm devastated that someone I knew died in there. That could have been me. I'm one year older than her," said Mansfield.
An MDOC spokesperson told CBS Detroit they're taking action in the wake of these deaths by bringing additional clinicians from across the state to help out at Huron Valley, and they're in the process of hiring additional full-time medical staff.
"We're not talking even freedom, we're talking medical care, basic human rights," Mansfield said.
U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell also pressed MDOC leadership to release more information that would give the public a better understanding of the healthcare process and the conditions at the facility.
MDOC Director Heidi Washington also said in a statement that they will make the cause of death for Hoath, Fackler and Howard public once the autopsies are completed.
