
Janika Nichole Edmond
In November 2015, a twenty-five-year-old Black woman, Janika Nichole Edmond died, or better was executed, in the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan’s only women’s prison. Two years ago, Huron Valley was investigated for alleged human rights abuses against mentally ill female inmates, and today Janika Nichole Edmond is dead.
Janika Edmond’s story is short and terribly familiar: Janika Edmond lived with mental illness. Once in Michigan’s `criminal justice’ system, her condition deteriorated. She had a history of assaulting prison guards, which resulted in her being sent to solitary, which resulted in her becoming more aggressive. The rate of `incident reports’ skyrocketed. No one did anything. In 2014, Janika Edmond made a rope out of a towel and tried to hang herself. Earlier in 2015, Janika Edmond was found with a razor. She said, repeatedly, that she was “tired of being here” and was hearing voices. Unfortunately, no one on staff heard or listened to Janika Edmond’s voice. The day she died, Janika Edmonds asked for a suicide prevention vest. The guards laughed. Hours later, she lay dead on the floor. “The death report provided by the MDOC [Michigan Department of Corrections] for Edmond shows her presumed cause of death was suicide.”
That was no suicide. That was murder at the hands of the State. The State had agency, power, volition, and policy. The State wanted Janika Edmond dead, and Janika Edmond is dead.
Two prison officers have been suspended or fired, depending on the report. While they bear their own responsibility, this crime emerged from years of abuse and torture. When Janika Edmonds died, the State was still “investigating” the July 16 death of Kayla Renea Miller, in Huron Valley. From the Anchorage Correctional Complex in Alaska to the California Institution for Women to SCI-Muncy in Pennsylvania to the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, women were dropping like flies and they continue to do so.
None of this is new. In 2012, Carol Jacobsen, founder and Director of the Michigan Women’s Justice and Clemency Project, noted, “Abu Ghraib has nothing on Huron Valley.” She was describing the irony that Huron Valley was meant to solve the crisis of abuse of women prisoners in the Robert Scott Correctional Facility. As a result of widespread torture and abuse, Scott was closed in 2009, and all the women were moved to Huron Valley, which, according to Carol Jacobsen, is worse than Scott.
That was 2012. In the intervening four years, the conditions at Huron Valley have only worsened, as they have nationally. According to the United States Department of Justice, in state prisons, “suicide was the most common unnatural cause of death among female prisoners from 2001 to 2012.” What happened to Janika Nichole Edmond? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, just another Black woman crying out for help, dying in agony, “tired of being here.” In her death, she joins “the most common.” Who cares? Who cares? Who cares? #SayHerName
(Photo Credit: MLive.com)
I am in shock over Edmonds death! I was in fact a poa in the prison until feb of 15, it was my job to sit and observe those prisoners who were deemed “unstable” or at risk. I personally sat with janika several times and she wasn’t destructive to staff she was self destructive and they knew that. She wanted someone to talk too and was FINE if you put a poa in front of her door, she was open and honest and did not act up when she had someone to vent to. The million dollar problem in that hell hole is that some, not all, officers don’t give a damn and that’s how those deaths occur! My heart goes out to her family, her death was preventable, she was one of the few there that told you when they needed assistance. The staff is so sick of inmates “shooting moves” to be with their girlfriends that they are neglecting to see when. Cry for help is actual, such a shame a beautiful life is lost.
A cry for help, a prisoner’s death and the case of Janika Edmond one year later
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/11/a_cry_for_help_a_prisoners_dea.html
MDOC admits fault in handling prisoner’s death http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/11/mdoc_admits_fault_in_handling.html
Former Michigan prison guard charged in death of inmate http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/12/former_michigan_prison_guard_c.html
Michigan prison guard charged in death of female inmate http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/12/21/dianna-callahan-janika-edmond-michigan-inmate/95708396/
Prison guard reinstated after previously being fired in death of inmate
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/12/prison_guard_reinstated_after.html
Michigan Jailer Fired for Ignoring Suicidal Inmate’s Pleas for Help as She Hung Herself Reinstated with Back Pay https://photographyisnotacrime.com/2017/01/02/michigan-jailer-fired-for-ignoring-suicidal-inmates-pleas-for-help-as-she-hung-herself-reinstated-with-back-payf/
Former prison officer charged in inmate’s death has case delayed
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/01/case_against_former_prison_off.html
Lawsuit claims MDOC tried to cover up misconduct in death of prisoner http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/03/lawsuit_claims_mdoc_attempted.html
Lawsuit: Officers bet on suicide in death of prisoner http://www.wkyc.com/news/nation-now/lawsuit-officers-bet-on-suicide-of-inmate/416908415
Breathtaking inhumanity http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2017/03/10/Toledo-Blade-editorial-Breathtaking-inhumanity.html
[…] The family of Wakiesha Wilson, who died in the Los Angeles County Jail last month, has similar questions. How did their loved one die, and why did the State take so long to inform them? From Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood to Eloy Detention and Kane County and Los Angeles, and beyond, women are dropping like flies, and their families ask, “Why?” and “Who cares?” […]
Attorney David S. Steingold Files Complaint for Woman Who Committed Suicide in Jail https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/17/04/p9274798/attorney-david-s-steingold-files-complaint-for-woman-who-committed-suic#/null
Second lawsuit filed in suicide death of Michigan prisoner http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/04/second_lawsuit_filed_in_suicid.html
Testimony expected in case against former Michigan prison guard http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/05/witness_testimony_expected_nex.html
Death of inmate shows ‘absolute neglect’ by prison guard, judge says http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/05/death_of_inmate_clear_case_of.html
Guard to face trial for ignoring inmate’s threat of suicide http://wwmt.com/news/state/guard-to-face-trial-for-ignoring-inmates-threat-of-suicide
Lawsuit claims women’s prison neglected, abused mentally ill inmate http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/07/mdoc_faces_lawsuit_after_inmat.html
Everyone failed inmate whose suicide sparked manslaughter case, family says http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/07/everyone_failed_inmate_whose_s.html
Former prison guard charged in inmate’s death has trial delayed http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/01/trial_for_former_prison_guard.html
Women who don’t belong in jail
http://michiganradio.org/post/women-who-don-t-belong-jail
Tampons, pads cost money in Michigan’s women’s prison http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2018/06/tampons-pads-cost-money-in-michigans-womens-prison/
Trial delayed again for ex-prison guard charged in inmate’s death https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/07/trial_delayed_again_for_ex-pri.html
Ex-prison guard takes plea in inmate’s death as MDOC looks to settle lawsuit https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2018/10/ex-prison_guard_takes_plea_in.html
Former corrections officer cuts plea deal in prison inmate’s death https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Former-corrections-officer-cuts-plea-deal-in-prison-inmates-death-498215741.html
Ex-prison guard gets 6 months in jail for inmate’s death https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2018/12/ex-prison-guard-gets-6-months-in-jail-for-inmates-death.html
Michigan prison deaths surged in 2018; state admits to counting errors https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/05/02/michigan-prison-deaths-surged-2018/3344232002/
Michigan to pay $860K to settle lawsuit over suicide at women’s prison https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/05/21/janika-edmond-suicide-prison-michigan-settlement/3754282002/
Michigan to Pay $860,000 in Lawsuit Over Prison Guards Who Bet on a Woman Inmate’s Suicide https://www.theroot.com/michigan-to-pay-860-000-in-lawsuit-over-prison-guards-1834961600
‘Somebody owes me lunch!’: Prison guards bet on an inmate’s suicide. Then, choking sounds came from her unit. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/28/somebody-owes-me-lunch-prison-guards-bet-an-inmates-suicide-then-choking-sounds-came-her-unit/
Family Awarded $860K After Guards Bet on Woman’s Suicide in Prison: ‘Somebody Owes Me Lunch!’ https://people.com/human-interest/janika-edmond-suicide-michigan-prison-guards-bet/
Family of woman who committed suicide after prison guards bet on her life awarded $860K https://thegrio.com/2019/06/01/family-of-woman-who-committed-suicide-after-prison-guards-bet-on-her-life-awarded-860k/
Prisoner, 39, dies by apparent suicide in shower at Michigan’s prison for women https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/08/13/prisoner-suicide-michigan-womens-huron-valley-prison-natasha-roark/8110925002/