ASPC-Winslow/Kaibab: Homicide of Fabian Lozano, 26.

UPDATE 9/23/14: 

Fabian's family reports that he was strangled to death by another prisoner at ASPC-Winslow after being denied Protective Custody three times...sounds like he fought for his life to the end.

There will be a car wash to try to raise funds for Fabian's funeral expenses on Saturday, September 27 from 8am-3pm in Mesa at the corner of Mesa Drive and Broadway - there's a tire shop across from the Circle K there that will host them. Please support. He left 4 kids behind, so they can use all the help we can give them.

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

Condolences to this young man's loved ones. If anyone knows anything about Fabian's life or death, please contact me at arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com or PO Box 20494 Phoenix, AZ 85036.

If you are Fabian's family and need help getting records from the AZ DOC or contacting an attorney familiar with suing the state, please contact me as well - I'll do what I can to help. My name is Peggy Plews. My number is 480-580-6807.

Fabian Lozano, 26

------------from the AZ DOC website---------------

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
		1601 W. JEFFERSON PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007 (602) 542-3133 www.azcorrections.gov
JANICE K. BREWER GOVERNOR					CHARLES L. RYAN DIRECTOR
NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release					For more information contact: Doug Nick dnick@azcorrections.gov Bill Lamoreaux blamorea@azcorrections.gov

Monday, September 22, 2014

Inmate Death Notification

WINSLOW, (Monday September 22, 2014) – Inmate Fabian Lozano, 26, ADC #260873, was pronounced deceased on September 19, 2014.  The cause of death is under investigation.

Lozano was sentenced out of Maricopa County and was serving one and a half years in prison for aggravated assault.  He returned to ADC custody on March 7, 2014 and was housed at ASPC – Winslow.

All inmate deaths are investigated in consultation with the county medical examiner’s office.

ASPC-Lewis Death in Custody: Rafael Guevara, 23.

It seems like an awful lot of prisoners are dying young under Jan Brewer's administration; this fellow was only 23. Usually when I see "unknown causes" with a prisoner that age, it means he likely died of a drug overdose - occasionally it's something like an aneurysm. AZ DOC staff already have an idea of what happened from their investigation, I suspect, but they won't have pathology results for awhile, at which time they won't be putting out a new press release  - not unless they know they'll be liable for something and they want to make their victim (the dead prisoner) look especially unsympathetic.  

The AZ DOC can't be trusted to give mothers accurate information about the deaths of their children, either. And the media seldom follows up on these cases when the word does come back about what really happened, so without other sources we could all stay in the dark. The darkness is what breeds all this violence, addiction, and despair behind prison walls, these days, folks - we need to bring this kind of thing into the light. That's one reason I do what I do...

"The Governor's Ghosts..."

40-foot sidewalk chalk memorial for Jan Brewer's dead prisoners.

Photographed from the roof of the Firehouse Gallery, Phoenix (July 2012)

That said, our condolences to Rafael's family, whatever the cause of his passing. If anyone is in touch with them, please pass my contact info along (Peggy Plews at arizonaprisonwtatch@gmail.com or 480-580-6807) and let them know I'm here to help with information and support however I can. I've seen too many other families go through this - they've been organizing, though, and they're here and willing to be of help, too.

Also, if anyone else out there knows about what happened to Rafael, please let me know so I can stay on top of what's happening inside and pass relevant info along to his family or their attorneys. They need to know about the class action lawsuit, Parsons v Ryan;  the riots and the proliferation of drugs, gangs and violence in AZ's prisons these days; the lack of substance abuse treatment behind bars; and the doubling of the suicide and homicide rates under the current directorship of Chuck Ryan. 

All of those things together suggest that the level of deliberate indifference to prisoners' lives is institutional and comes from the top, not from just a few bad apples in brown with badges, as the state wanted us to believe when Marcia Powell died in that cage four years ago.

I'm also open to feedback from you, Bill Lamoreaux, if you or Chuck think I'm representing the ADC unfairly and  your propaganda machine can't keep up. You know where to find me.

Finally, if you have a friend or loved one in jail or prison and need help or support dealing with the system, come find the Seawright Prison Justice Project every Saturday from 4 - 6pm at PUENTE (1306 E. Van Buren, PHX).

Watching Tony Die: Case dismissed against officers who withheld first aid.

Remembering Tony Lester

Day of the Dead Prisoners (Nov 1, 2013)

Maricopa County Superior Courthouse

Most readers will remember the story of Tony Lester, a 26-year old seriously mentally ill Native American AZ state prisoner who cut his throat in Tucson prison in July 2009. He bled out over the course of at least ten minutes as five AZ Department of Corrections officers stood around and watched without making the slightest effort to render first aid. The family filed a massive lawsuit against the AZ DOC for their failure to act (and for giving Tony the razor in the first place), but the critical part that was lodged against those five officers was dismissed last month. Once I have a copy of Judge Talamante's ruling on that, I'll be writing my own response to him.

Thanks to the work of Wendy Halloran and Channel 12 News at KNPX, those officers actions are at least visible for the rest of the community to see now. The names of the brave and noble AZ Department of Corrections officers watching Tony die are: Orlando Pope, Humberto Hernandez, Rene Barcelo, Dale Brown, and Danielle Pedroso. The judge apparently agreed with experts who said that since these officers couldn't have saved Tony's life if they tried, it's alright that they didn't even bother.


I wonder if five police officers did nothing at an accident scene but film the dying victims, for example, if that kind of abdication of a first-responder's duty to care would have been okay with this judge as well. That's not equal protection under the law if it's acceptable for officers to withhold first aid from a dying prisoner just because they're too freaked out to render it, but it's not alright for a first responder in the community to do so. These peace officers should all lose their AZ POST certification for their gross neglect of duty - they shouldn't even be allowed to be security guards for McDonald's: children would end up choking to death while these idiots record it for Youtube.

Please, after viewing this report, reach out to KPNX at connect@ad.gannett.com and thank them for caring enough about mentally ill prisoners to air it. We want them to cover such human rights violations in the prisons more in the future.

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

Inmate suicide response captured on video

By Wendy Halloran  
KPNX 12 News | azcentral.com  

Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:59 PM

from KPNX/azcentral.com

Here are the Arizona Department of Corrections' finest at work...

What follows is the argument that the lawyers made defending the inaction of these officers to Channel 12 News before the above video was released - presumably this was what they pitched to Judge David Talamante, who fell for it and threw the case out. 

I wonder if the good Dr. Harvey W. Meislin, the Director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, would have also argued that since Tony was already so far gone, it was even pointless for the emergency personnel to try to help him, and that they should have also shown Tony their indifference as he lay dying....I think not. I suspect his slant on this was just swayed by the sweet check he'd get for his expert testimony, and his own faulty presumption that prisoners are not entitled to the same standard of medical care that the rest of us are. That's certainly not someone I want in charge of teaching our next generation either the science or the ethics of emergency medical care - for which he receives my tax dollars....

 --------------------

From: David Cantelme [mailto:David@cantelaw.com]

Sent: Friday, February 22, 2013 9:18 AM

To: Halloran, Wendy

Subject: Inmate Anthony Lester and Arizona Department of Corrections

Dear Wendy,

I understand that you are doing a follow-up on Inmate Anthony Lester and the response of the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) after Inmate Lester’s cellmate notified ADC officers that he was bleeding. As you know, my law firm represents the State of Arizona and ADC in the lawsuit brought by Inmate Lester's mother. I am available for comment, as is Aaron Brown, my law partner. In case we do not connect, here are some points that should be conveyed to the public to make sure it has all the facts:

Plaintiffs could not produce any evidence indicating that the actions of the ADC Officers in responding to Inmate Anthony Lester’s injuries in any way fell below their standard of care or that they in any way caused or contributed to Inmate Lester’s death. Accordingly, Superior Judge David Talamante granted judgment for the State of Arizona on the claim that ADC Officers failed to render proper aid to Inmate lester.

Sometime before 7:35 p.m. on the evening of July 11, 2010, Inmate Lester’s right carotid artery and right internal and external jugular vein were completely severed while he was in his cell. These wounds would have caused immediate significant blood loss. As Dr. Terrence O’Keefe, the emergency treating surgeon, indicated during his deposition, the blood exiting the neck wounds would have initially been visibly pulsating (arterial wound) and briskly flowing (jugular wound) out of the wound. There is no evidence indicating that any of the first responders observed Mr. Lester actively bleeding from his neck wounds.

Moreover, the treating paramedics placed a gauze bandage over Mr. Lester’s neck wound and the bandage did not immediately saturate with blood. The video recording of Mr. Lester shows at its first footage that he was unconscious and in profound hypovolemic shock, which would have resulted from severe blood loss. Additionally, Mr. Lester’s left arm was in a decorticate posture, which is indicative of possible brain damage.

All this indicates that, before the ADC Officers arrived at the scene, Inmate Lester’s body had lost too much of his blood supply to allow him to survive. At that point, there was little anyone could do to save his life. While en route to UMC, Mr. Lester went into cardiac arrest because of hypovolemic shock.

The ADC Officers that responded to the emergency involving Mr. Lester immediately summoned Tucson Fire paramedics, which were located directly across the street from the prison grounds, and, by all accounts, appear to have done everything possible to assist in transporting Mr. Lester to UMC so that he could receive advanced medical care. Once Mr. Lester arrived at UMC, physicians performed an emergency ED thoracotomy followed by open cardiac massage. He was placed on rapid transfusion protocol and received multiple units of blood products, all to no avail. Mr. Lester was then transferred to the operating room for operative intervention for the thoracotomy and the neck wound. Mr. Lester’s neck wounds, including his internal right carotid artery and jugular vein were ligated. However, Mr. Lester was highly coagulopathic and continued to bleed from his wounds. Despite the heroic efforts of the trauma team at UMC, Mr. Lester's life could not be saved.

The response made by the ADC Officers was reviewed by Dr. Harvey W. Meislin, who is board certified in Emergency Medicine, is a Professor with tenure in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, and is the Director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center.

Had Judge Talamante not thrown out this claim, we would have called Dr. Meislin to the stand and he would have testified that ADC employees responded reasonably and appropriately to the emergency on July 11, 2010, and met the applicable standard of care in providing first aid by doing everything reasonably possible to summon paramedics so that Mr. Lester could be immediately transported to definitive care at UMC. Mr. Lester’s survivability was dependent upon transportation and arrival to the trauma center where definitive management of his wounds could and would take place. 

Dr. Meislin would have testified that under the specific circumstances of this case, application of pressure to Mr. Lester’s neck wounds was not called for and would not have served any useful purpose. Dr. Meislin was also of the opinion that no act or alleged omission by ADC employees in responding to Mr. Lester’s emergency caused or contributed to his death. Thank you for your attention to these facts.

David J. Cantelme

Cantelme & Brown, P.L.C.

A Professional Liability Corporation

3003 N. Central Avenue, Suite 600

*Please note our new address*

Phoenix, Arizona 85012

djc@cb-attorneys.com

Telephone:(602) 200-0125

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

Finally, the links below will take you to the full report on Tony's death - follow them and please thank Wendy and KPNX for caring enough to bring this to light...

How We Did It
By Wendy Halloran 
 12 News | azcentral.com  

Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:59 PM
 

12 News investigative reporter Wendy Halloran has been asking questions for more than two years about what happened to Tony Lester.

Halloran’s public records’ requests to the Arizona Department of Corrections began in the fall of 2010, just months after Lester died. In June 2011, she requested a copy of a video that captured how corrections officers responded when they found Lester bleeding in his cell. ADOC denied the request, citing the privacy interests of Lester’s surviving family members, who had filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging officers stood by and and did not render first aid.

In July 2012, Halloran renewed her request for the video. It was again denied.

In September, Halloran tried again with the permission of Tony Lester’s family. ADOC denied her request a third time. Later that month, Halloran was allowed to watch the video at the law firm representing the state. She then requested the first 12 minutes of the video that showed how the officers responded. She was again denied.

12 News filed a special action in Superior Court in October asking that a judge review the matter. The following month, ADOC was ordered to produce the video to the station. The judge found ADOC wrongfully denied Halloran’s public records request, and the department agreed to pay more than $26,000 in attorneys’ fees to the station.

Watch Wendy Halloran’s previous reports on Tony Lester:

• 12 News investigation leads to viewer outrage over inmate's suicide
• Arizona inmate's family watches his death video
• Arizona inmate suicide: Failure to aid, Part 2
• Arizona inmate suicide: Did correction officers fail to administer aid?

ASPC-Tucson Deaths in Custody: Homicide of Christian Frost.

UPDATED POST: July 1, 2013

AZ DOC Deaths in Custody: Loving Christian Frost

Original POST: 2/24/2013
 
If anyone out there has information about this man's death, or knows how to reach his surviving family members, please contact me at 480-580-6807 or arizonaprisonwatch@gmail.com.  My name is Peggy Plews, I'm a prisoner rights activist, artist, and freelance blogger. I work extensively with families who have survived the loss of a loved one to suicide, neglect, or violence in custody. I also correspond with state prisoners trying to fight for their health care rights and find a "safe place" in the system to do their time. 

Follow this link for Survivors of Prison Violence and the articles 

Bob Ortega wrote last June for the AZ Republic

about the rising violence in AZ state prisons.

The problem is that there are no safe places in prison. The particularly dangerous places are the ones no one else ever sees or hears of, and the worst happens to those who no one thinks anyone will care about, so please, if you know anything about how Christian Frost lived or died, and who may have loved him, it would help me to know. Then I need to tell others, so they realize he was a human being, not just a caricature of a criminal and inmate that the state paints to assure the family is shamed and the public feels no sympathy when they die.

I'm available to anyone who has a loved one still living in prison, too, who is worried about their safety, health, or the conditions of their confinement. It's the prisoners and families themselves who have been teaching me how they survive, so I can pass information, like this post, on to others. So, please feel free to call or email anytime - that's what keeps me up on what's happening inside. 


Condolences to Christian's family on their loss. My heart goes out to the guys directly affected by this as well - I know a lot of guys for whom this will be terrifying, as they believe they will be next. Hang in there, guys, write to AZ Prison Watch even if you have no money, and my friends and I will help you fight the state the right way: 

   Peggy Plews

Arizona Prison Watch 

PO Box 20494 

Phoenix, AZ 85036

Margie is working on a special project assessing and addressing violence against gay and transgender prisoners as well, so let her know if you're interested in that in particular.

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

Inmate dies from possible homicide in Tucson prison

Feb 23, 2013 2:34 PM 

by Van Nguyen

KVOA.com /Channel 4 - Tucson NBC

TUCSON - An inmate has died while in custody at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson.

Investigators say 38-year-old Christian Frost died Friday from a possible homicide.

Medical responders tried but couldn't save him.

Frost was serving a 26 year sentenced for manslaughter, flight from law enforcement and aggravated assault.

He came to the Arizona Department of Corrections on February 13, 1998 and was held at ASPC-Tucson.

The investigation on how he died is ongoing and being conducted by the department's Criminal Investigations Unit.

Sad Solstice: Remembering Brenda Todd

Six months ago this week, on January 21, 2011, Brenda Todd died in Perryville state prison begging for medical attention that never came. That's part of a twisted pattern of neglect and gross indifference to human life at the AZ Department of Corrections - particularly at the AZ state women's prison.

Urged on by prisoners who were there when she died, we tracked down Brenda's father to make sure that her family members know to file suit because of the circumstances, though I don't know if he's in time to file a Notice of Claim against the state - there's generally a six-month deadline for grieving families to be on top of (and no one ever tells them that). I referred him to a good attorney who will find out, no doubt.

Brenda's dad isn't on-line and the family never saw the Phoenix New Times story or my blog posts about how she died - or all the letters we received from the other women about what happened - and the State only notified him last week that the death certificate is ready, so I think the courts should grant him an extension to file. He had no way of knowing that her death was wrongful until now. It goes beyond simple negligence.

The family can still file suit in federal court, however, I believe under civil rights law. There's a two-year deadline for prisoners to file Section 1983 CR suits, at least, so survivors of prison violence who have missed filing deadlines for the state should still speak to an attorney as soon as possible. Do NOT wait for or trust the AZ Department of Corrections or the AZ Attorney General's office to give you timely, accurate information about your loved one's death - they're just trying to avoid your lawsuits. Unfortunately, it seems the only way they change is when someone wins in court - and we need to stop them from killing these women now, so please exercise all your rights to fight back.

Our condolences go out to all of Brenda's loved ones. Feel free to contact me (Peggy at 480-580-6807) if there's anything I might be able to do. If nothing else, I can put you in touch with other families who share your struggle - just let me know.

June 23, 2011: CORRECTION:

It's only been five months since Brenda died. That means that - thanks to my friend Matt's work - we're in time to help her family with a claim against the state. Unfortunately, litigation seems to be the only thing that makes them clean up the prisons, and Brenda's family has one hell of a suit...she could end up sparing a lot of other women from the hell she went through. From what I've been told, she'd probably give her blessings to that struggle...

Waiting in the Silence: Remembering Tony Lester.

I received this message and video this morning from Tony Lester's Aunt, Patti Jones. Today died from the despair of his mental illness, incarceration, the threat of violence, and gross indifference to his fading life as five corrections officers stood around and watched him bleed to death, thinking only to pull out a camera and film it, not to try to stop it.


Tony was only 26, and left behind a huge, loving, grieving family, including a little girl he never had the chance to hold. All our love goes out to his family today, and to all survivors of prison violence and neglect. This is for you and your loved ones, from Tony's family, as much as it is for him. To those with someone struggling to survive their sentence in Arizona's state prisons, please spread the word that help is on the way. It isn't the ACLU or the DOJ, folks - it's us: me and you.

Please contact me if you want to be a part of the support team out here for our prisoners. My name is Peggy; reach me at 480-580-6807 or prisonabolitionist@gmail.com. You can do as much or as little as you want, and do it from home. Be patient and persistent if you leave me a message - just don't think we don't need you if it takes a few days - we very much do.

-----------

A Birthday Wish for Beloved Tony: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY:: We will have your voice heard, your life mattered we will bring about change for those that are so vulnerable. We understand your message, You will live on through the change that we will be brought about through your death, May God Bless You!!

All of Our Love

Your Family

Haas' family files claim for killings by Kingman escapees.

For those of you who still think private prisons were a great way to save the state money, think again. Neither MTC nor Arizona can possibly fork over enough money to compensate this family for the brutal murders of their loved ones, but I'm glad they're taking it to court.

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

Arizona prison escape, killings prompt lawsuit

by JJ Hensley - Sept. 3, 2010 10:20 AM

The Arizona Republic

The first legal action in the Arizona prison breakout that led to the killing of two campers has been filed against the state and the operator of the private prison.

Vivian Haas, the mother of murder victim Gary Haas, filed a $10 million claim against Arizona and a wrongful death lawsuit against Management Training Corp., the company that operates the private prison near Kingman where three fugitives escaped on July 30.

The notice of claim is a required precursor to a lawsuit.

Police believe one of those escaped inmates, John McCluskey, murdered Gary Haas and his wife, Linda, near Santa Rosa, N.M. in the days following the escape as the fugitives grew weary of traveling in a car and targeted the Haas' for their camping trailer.

The escape led to a nationwide manhunt that stretched from Arizona to the Canada border.

The claim against Arizona notes the state's failure to maintain custody of the inmates, to properly train and supervise personnel at the prison and to promptly notify law enforcement officials in the area after the escape.

"I have conveyed my condolences to the Haas family and friends, however, I cannot comment on pending litigation," Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan said in a statement.

Management Training Corp. could not be immediately reached for comment.

Reviews of the July 30 incident have painted the picture of a prison where detention officers became lackadaisical and predictable in their movements and where equipment failures- including false alarms- were so common that they were frequently ignored.

Detention officers failed to check an alarm that sounded when McCluskey, Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick cut through one of two security fences ringing the privately run prison near Kingman.

Investigators have said McCluskey's fiancée, Casslyn Welch, threw cutting tools over the fence to the men who snipped through chain link and barbed wire to flee into the desert.

It was more than two hours before staff at the private prison notified the state corrections officials of the escape.

By then, Renwick was making his way north to Colorado while McCluskey, Province and Welch were on their way to hijacking a truck near Kingman and forced the drivers to take them to Flagstaff.

Renwick was captured two days after the escape after he exchanged gunfire with police in Colorado.

After allegedly receiving help from relatives in Arizona, McCluskey, Province and Welch made their way east, ultimately ending up at a rest stop in New Mexico where, according to statements Province gave investigators, they saw 61-year-old Gary and Linda Haas, an Oklahoma couple taking an annual camping trip.

After days on the road in a cramped sedan, the fugitives decided to target travelers with a camping trailer and the Haas' fit the bill.

Province told investigators that he and McCluskey forced the couple into their truck at gunpoint while Welch followed behind. They all ended up in a remote area near Santa Rosa where McCluskey shot the Haas' in their trailer, according to court documents.

The fugitives set fire to the trailer in an effort to hide the evidence. A rancher discovered the burned trailer on Aug. 4.

The trio continued to evade authorities for days after the bodies were discovered.

Province was arrested in Wyoming on Aug. 9 and was carrying a backpack and 9mm gun, both of which he said were taken from the Haas'.

McCluskey and Welch were arrested in Apache County on Aug. 19.

Federal authorities last week filed murder charges against McCluskey, Welch and Province in New Mexico.

The three remain in a Mohave County jail on $1 million bond waiting to face charges there and ultimately extradition to New Mexico.

The other way we tend to die in custody

Family of inmate sues Mesa after jail-cell suicide

by Nathan Gonzalez - Nov. 20, 2009 09:55 AM
The Arizona Republic

 

The family of a Mesa man who hanged himself inside the city jail is suing for $400,000 in damages, claiming detention officers should have adequately watched him.

The U.S. District Court lawsuit brought by Miletta Lewis, sister of Marvin Lewis, names the city and its detention officers.

It claims Lewis' constitutional rights were violated because officers did not place him in a safe environment.

The suit also accuses the city and its detention officers of being negligent because they failed to closely monitor Lewis, who was found hanged in his cell April 9, 2008.

While he was being booked into the jail early that morning, Lewis told a jail guard he was picked up on a minor probation violation from Kentucky and said that he had once been jailed for murder, police reports show.

One detention officer said in her report that Lewis was one of the most-calm prisoners throughout the jail that night and that he "said he had a lot of respect for female officers."

Lewis described himself as a local landscaper. He told jailer he was arrested as ran outside because he thought his car was being stolen. In fact, police were closing in on him to arrest him on the outstanding warrant.

"I did not think that he seemed upset about his charges or upset about going back to Kentucky," the detention officer stated in her report.

Lewis was placed into a cell with another prisoner and released at 2:05 a.m. to use the telephone, police reports state. About 10 minutes later, he was returned to his cell, and his cellmate was allowed to use the phone.

Meanwhile, the officer who booked Lewis had placed a third inmate into the cell, and that inmate found Lewis.

"I did not have a chance to start back down the hall when (the other inmate) began banging on the door and yelling" that Lewis hung himself, the jailer wrote.

As other detention officers arrived, they found Lewis with a pair of socks tied around his neck and hanging from one of four hooks on the cell wall, according to police reports.

EMS personnel responded, but could not revive Lewis.

The lawsuit brought by Lewis' sister claims the city and jail guards "failed to ensure that Mr. Lewis had a holding cell free from suicide opportunities such as hooks anchored in the concrete wall close to the ceiling. (The city and detention officers) failed to take any precautions whatsoever."

City officials deny the lawsuit's claims.