An inmate diagnosed with the novel coronavirus at a detention facility in Washington, D.C., has died in what the mayor said Monday was the facility’s first inmate death related to the pandemic, according to local news stations. The inmate was identified as Deon Crowell, 51, and he tested positive for the virus Tuesday, which was also when he was placed into isolation and monitored by medical staff, the Department of Corrections said in a statement that NBC Washington obtained.
Crowell was in jail awaiting his trial date on first-degree murder charges, The Washington Times reported. His family was notified of his death before a press conference Mayor Muriel Bowser had Monday informing the public. “We send them our deep condolences,” she said.
Activists pointing out unhealthy conditions for inmates in jails throughout the country have been advocating for the early release of nonviolent offenders during the pandemic. Legislators passed emergency legislation March 17 to fast-track the early release of inmates in Washington’s jail due to misdemeanor convictions. By Friday, only 36 of 115 inmates in jail on misdemeanors remained incarcerated. "Upon release, these residents will receive social and health services support through staff at the READY Center," the mayor's office said in a news release.
There are at least 1,324 novel coronavirus cases linked to prisons and jails across the country, The New York Times reported. The newspaper identified Chicago's jail as a "top U.S. hot spot" for the virus. The Cook County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, told the Times Wednesday that 238 prisoners and 115 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19; one has died due to complications related to the virus, and most of the jail’s 4,500 inmates have not been tested. A sign reading "HELP WE MATTER 2" was posted in one window at the Chicago facility. “This has been a difficult time for everyone,” county sheriff Thomas Dart told the newspaper.
Thomas Balsiger, a 67-year-old inmate at La Tuna federal prison in Texas, told The New York Times there are too few precautions taken for inmates, and he has a history of coronary heart disease. “I’m worried sick,” he told the newspaper. “If I get this, I’m dead.”
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Forty-two inmates in District of Columbia Department of Corrections’ custody have tested positive for the virus and been isolated from other prisoners, and nine inmates have recovered from the virus and returned to general population, WUSA 9 reported. The district had seen 80 new COVID-19 cases by Monday morning, bringing the total number of cases to 1,955, Bowser said during the press conference. Fifty-two people have died of the virus, Bowser said.
Some prisoners have filed class-action suits advocating for better cleaning of the jail facility and early release. A federal judge ordered an emergency inspection of the facility in the nation's capital, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. “This is an emergency,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said via videoconference. “This is a pandemic. The numbers are increasing.”