Eyman Homicide: Jeremy Pompeneo.

This young man's death is under investigation as a homicide, according to the Phoenix New Times. His original crime was brutal - he murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her 80 times.

He was also seriously mentally ill, however, and should have been safe in ADC custody while being treated for his psychiatric disorder. In light of the skyrocketing rates of homicide and suicide in AZ state prisons since Brewer and Chuck Ryan took over, his may be one death that could have been prevented, and his family should sue the state for everything they can. It may be the only thing that saves the next kid.

Our condolences to any loved ones this prisoner left behind.

Please feel free to contact me at prisonabolitionist@gmail.com or 480-580-6807 if I can be of any assistance as you recover from this. I'm just a blogger and activist - not an attorney or grief counselor - but I'm willing to help connect you with support if I can. That goes for all survivors of jail and prison violence, suicide, and neglect.


To report Arizona homicides, suicides, and medical neglect to the US Department of Justice, ask for a CRIPA (Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons) Investigation of harmful patterns and practices causing the homicide and suicide rates to double under Jan Brewer's administration, and leaving prisoners to die without medical attention.

Address your concerns to:

Jonathan Smith, Chief
Special Litigation Section - Civil Rights Division
US Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
PATRICK HENRY BUILDING
Washington, DC 20530

Please email me a copy as well.

Perryville prisoner suicide: March 2011.

SOS DOJ: CRIPA AZ.
Sandra Day O'Connor Federal Court House.
November 14, 2010.


***UPDATED March 31, 2011 at: http://arizonaprisonwatch.blogspot.com/2011/03/deaths-in-custody-susan-lopez-adc.html

Another prisoner hung herself out at Perryville last Friday. The department has yet to put up the notice that she even died, for some reason, so I'll wait for them to release her name. I'm guessing they're either still notifying next-of-kin or trying to do some kind of damage control. A lot of people have been Googling her name and poking around my site for news of her, though, so I hope the state puts out the information soon. Once they do, I'll post the notice and fill in the blanks with what little I've been told; it was another case of people just not listening to the distress of prisoners.

I hope the ADC has learned that they need to do critical incident debriefing with affected prisoners or there'll be another suicide out there within a short time; their policies just suggest that they offer counseling to prisoners who ask for it; staff get the debriefing. There have been at least two suicides in the past seven months that were precipitated by another prisoner killing themselves on the same yard: Lasasha Cherry was preceded by Geshell Fernandez at Perryville/Lumley, and Duron Cunningham killed himself at Florence/Central just a week after Rosario Rodriguez-Bojorquez. Both might have been prevented by an intervention after the first suicide.

Just so folks know, if you have a loved one who has killed themselves or been murdered in Arizona's prisons, the best thing you can do to reduce the risk of it happening to the next person's loved one is to hold the state responsible in civil court. Sue them. Survivors must file a notice of claim within six months to take action in state court; don't wait until the last minute.

Contact me at 480-580-6807 if you need help finding an attorney.

Deaths in Custody: ADC January 2011.

Arizona State Capitol/Wes Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix. February 22, 2011.

It is inevitable that some people will die in prison, even given the best of care. Not every death behind bars is due to negligence - some prisoners receive extremely compassionate and capable end-of-life care from the Arizona Department of Corrections, regardless of their crime. The past two years have seen skyrocketing homicide and suicide rates in the state prisons, however, as program resources have been cut, violence has escalated, and the quality of medical services has deteriorated. Look at how young these folks are.

Therefore, we're compiling as much documentation as possible to strengthen our call for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the ADC, and are developing a list of attorneys to refer survivors of prisoners seeking to file claims against the state for their loss. Please contact me if you have evidence that any of these prisoner deaths were preventable (including the "natural causes") and/or serve to illustrate systemic problems with access to appropriate health care, psychiatric treatment, and emergency services in Arizona's state prisons.


Peggy Plews
Arizona Prison Watch
PO Box 20494
Phoenix, AZ 85036
480-580-6807

----------------------------------

According to the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) website, the following prisoners died in custody in January, 2011:

Delbert Carr, 61
David Bandstra, 64
John Zimmerman, 44
David Moreno, 40
Fred Myers, 59
Brenda Todd, 44
Andre Hutchins, 59
Jose Lopez-Hernandez, 46
Timothy Lewis, 54
Jeffrey Ortiz, 55

Our condolences to their loved ones.