{"id":1273,"date":"2026-08-01T18:06:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T18:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1273"},"modified":"2026-08-01T18:06:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T18:06:51","slug":"family-members-demand-investigation-of-michigan-prison-after-deaths-of-5-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1273","title":{"rendered":"Family Members Demand Investigation of Michigan Prison After Deaths of 5 Women"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Israel Closes Investigation of 2023 Settler Pogrom Without Charging Perpetrators<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, I didn\u2019t even recognize my own child,\u201d said Izora Clark, whose daughter Krystal has become a focal point of demands for reform at Women\u2019s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan\u2019s only women\u2019s prison.<\/p>\n

Clark, along with Krystal\u2019s daughter and grandchildren, joined advocates and family members of other women incarcerated at Women\u2019s Huron Valley outside the Michigan State Capitol and Michigan Department of Corrections headquarters on Friday afternoon to demand change for their loved ones. <\/p>\n

Izora Clark said her daughter has mold in her hair and her ears, allegations also raised by Krystal Clark\u2019s attorneys in an emergency motion to have her removed from the prison, citing what they described as her medical deterioration from toxic mold exposure. Krystal Clark was transferred to Duane Waters Health Center in Jackson after the motion was filed. <\/p>\n

At a Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing in February, state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) told Krystal\u2019s story as well, stating that along with visible mold growing in her ears, she has developed other health issues, including a facial droop and severe swelling in her arms, while incarcerated.<\/p>\n

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesperson Jennie Riehle said that Clark\u2019s attorneys\u2019 allegations \u201care not supported by the medical evidence or facts known to the department. Ms. Clark is not experiencing any emergent medical condition that warrants transfer from the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department has also released findings of independent environmental testing done by a private contractor, which concluded the facility did not have dangerous systemic black or toxic mold conditions. <\/p>\n

Krystal\u2019s mother said she won\u2019t be happy until her daughter walks out of prison, safely and alive \u2014 and that she never wanted her daughter to end up in another Michigan Department of Corrections facility. <\/p>\n

Five women have died at Women\u2019s Huron Valley since mid-May \u2014 most recently Dasie Forbes, who died while in palliative care, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. <\/p>\n

Because of Forbes\u2019 medical condition, her death was deemed \u201cexpected\u201d by the department, and as such, no investigation into her death will be conducted. The county medical examiner similarly declined to conduct an autopsy in her death. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe death of Ms. Forbes was expected, unlike the unexpected death of Ms. Jones and the other women who passed that were incarcerated at WHV this year,\u201d Riehle said. \u201cMs. Forbes had been diagnosed with multiple chronic, complex, life-limiting illnesses. As a result, she elected to enter palliative care while still at the facility in Feb. 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the fact that so many women have died this year \u2014 Women\u2019s Huron Valley has seen six deaths per year in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and five in 2022, according to statistics provided by MDOC \u2014 raises concerns about the care that prisoners at the facility are receiving. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you commit a crime and they put you somewhere to be punished, let that person do their time and come home. That\u2019s the way I feel,\u201d Izora Clark said. \u201cDon\u2019t sit up here and treat them like they\u2019re not worth living for. Because at the end of the day, they\u2019re not your family, but they do have people that love them too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The families of multiple women who have died at Women\u2019s Huron Valley shared the stories of their loved ones, and chanted alongside organizers to demand that the same thing does not happen to more women.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe walked into the facility and she didn\u2019t walk out,\u201d said Don Howard, whose daughter Khaira died days before she was scheduled to be released on parole. \u201cThese ladies are walking in, but they\u2019re not walking out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashley Hoath, who died at the facility in June, was well-loved at WHV before her death, which was ruled a suicide by the county medical examiner\u2019s office, according to her daughter Anala.<\/p>\n

Standing outside the MDOC headquarters as a number of employees left for the day, organizers chanted at them \u201cShame,\u201d and \u201cBlood on your hands.\u201d But their main demands are towards MDOC Director Heidi Washington, as well as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.<\/p>\n

Organizers of the protest, which was led by the Washtenaw General Defense Committee, demanded Krystal Clark\u2019s release from prison, as well as the immediate release of all severely ill and medically frail women inside the facility.<\/p>\n

Other elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, have also pressed Whitmer to provide more answers about the conditions inside the prison and why so many women have died in such a short span of time.<\/p>\n

Read more Prosecutor Investigating US Boat Strikes and Torture Assassinated in Ecuador<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As severe medical issues and deaths increase, advocates and families are pressing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to take action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFamily Members Demand Investigation of Michigan Prison After Deaths of 5 Women - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1273\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family Members Demand Investigation of Michigan Prison After Deaths of 5 Women - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As severe medical issues and deaths increase, advocates and families are pressing Gov. 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