Lawmakers in Michigan want the director of the state corrections department fired after three inmates died within the same month at a women’s prison in Ypsilanti.
Heidi Washington, the department director since 2015, has came under intense scrutiny from Detroit area politicians after sudden deaths and a long history of subpar conditions.
The latest deceased inmate, 36-year old Ashley Hoath, passed away at an Ann Arbor hospital Saturday after officers reported she was sick and was transported to the hospital. The state says Hoathe was conscious at the time she was taken away in an ambulance.
“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 statement.
A 28-year-old woman Khaira Howard died at the facility last month, days before her scheduled release. Her family will celebrate her 29th birthday without her later this month.
The death of 57-year old Rebecca Fackler is also being investigated. Michigan State Police says the results of an autopsy and toxicology report could reveal more as investigators search for answers into Howard and Fackler’s deaths.
The state says it offered mental health counseling on site over the weekend to support female inmates at the Women’s Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility.
Washington has been championed for her work boosting skilled jobs training and lowering the state’s prison population, but recent deaths, including two more at other facilities across the state where one inmate was stabbed and another fell to his death, have soured observers.
“For me, one was already too many. Four?” Democratic U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib said on social media Saturday.
Tlaib is part of a growing number of elected officials expressing growing concern about the conditions at Michigan’s only women’s prison. Tlaib and Rep. Laurie Pohutsky of Livonia are part of a bipartisan group of more than 30 other state lawmakers asking the state for answers.
“Significant policy and culture change must occur within the Michigan Department of Corrections,” lawmakers wrote. “However, it has become abundantly clear to each of us that such change cannot and will not occur under your leadership as Director. In the over a decade that you have served as Director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, concerns raised by inmates, their loved ones, and legislators alike have gone unaddressed.”
A letter signed by 23 Democrats and seven Republicans to MDOC leadership called for a sweeping overhaul of department leadership. U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, also wrote his own statement demanding Washington’s resignation.
“This cannot and will not be achieved with the departure of just one member of MDOC’s leadership,” Pohutsky said in the letter. “However, it has become abundantly clear to each of us that such change cannot and will not occur under your leadership as director.”
Washington is the longest serving agency director under Whitmer, the two-term governor who has in recent weeks faced growing pressure from members of her own party. Some Democrats have criticized Whitmer over her meetings with President Donald Trump and most recently her decision to appear with tech leaders at a celebratory groundbreaking for a controversial data center project in Washtenaw County.
“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.”
The governor’s office said in a statement the health and safety of those under MDOC’s supervision must always be the department’s top priority.
“The governor has directed MDOC to conduct a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation,” a spokesperson for Whitmer told Michigan Chronicle. “This process will include a careful assessment by an independent medical examiner. When this process is complete, we will release the results of the investigation. Families deserve to have the answers they need during the grieving process.”
Women incarcerated at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility sent an open letter to state leaders in March demanding solutions to problems inside the facility, like mold and inadequate medical care.
Krystal Clark, a Black woman whose family and advocates have been calling for her release due to lack of medical care, say black mold is killing the inmates inside of the Ypsilanti prison.
During a committee hearing on the facility in February, Pohutsky shared slides with images and details of Krystal’s health impacts her family says is due to mold exposure.
Advocates say Clark has requested assistance to medical staff, but her concerns go largely ignored.
MDOC rejected the claims in a statement, touting Washington’s role in implementing a “Vocational Village,” which certifies women in skilled trades at the facility.
“The Michigan Department of Corrections has established itself as a national leader in evidence-based corrections under the direction of Director Heidi E. Washington. Over the last decade, the department has safely reduced the prison population, worked to modernize facilities and operations, increased opportunities that support long-term public safety and self-sufficiency, and achieved the lowest recidivism rates in our state’s history.”
The department didn’t address the criticism over the deaths in the statement, but said it will “prioritize the investigations and will provide information on their findings when they conclude.”
“Director Washington has been onsite with healthcare leadership at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility to provide oversight in day-to-day operations while investigations are underway,” the department said in a statement.
