LANSING — An autopsy has determined that the June 6 death of a 36-year-old inmate at Michigan’s women’s prison was caused by suicide from overdosing on aspirin.
Ashley Hoath, who died in the emergency room at Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital after she was rushed there from Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti, was the third of four women’s prison inmates to die suddenly between May 13 and July 2. The deaths and a history of complaints has placed the prison under intense scrutiny over its living conditions and health care.
The autopsy report, signed by Dr. Catherine Morris, a staff pathologist at Michigan Medicine Pathology and Clinical Laboratories in Ann Arbor, says Hoath had a toxic level of aspirin in her blood and had also ingested apple seeds.
Morris said in the report that because of those facts, combined with Hoath’s previous suicidal behavior, “the manner of death is best classified as suicide.”
A copy of the report was released to the Detroit Free Press July 17 by the office of the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner, which authorized the autopsy. The report was completed July 7 and updated July 16 to correct typographical errors, records show.
The Free Press reported June 9 that several inmates said Hoath told others on June 5 she had been hoarding as many as 100 apple seeds, which can be toxic in large quantities and which she planned to ingest, and also was asking other women that night for aspirin or Tylenol, and may have gathered a large quantity.
A family member of Hoath’s could not immediately be reached for comment July 16 and July 17.
Ginger Bailey, an inmate since 2017, said in a June 8 interview with the Detroit Free Press that she ate dinner in the chow hall with Hoath on June 5, hours before Hoath died, and was concerned enough about Hoath’s mental state that she alerted prison officials to keep an eye on her that night.
“She’s going to hurt herself,” Bailey said she told the officer in her unit, after dinner. Since Hoath lived in a different housing unit than Bailey did, Bailey said she asked that officer to call an officer in the unit where Hoath lived and relay Bailey’s concerns, which she said the officer did.
State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, a member of the House Oversight Committee who has been investigating Michigan prisons, said July 17 that Bailey’s report of a warning to officers about Hoath’s mental state is consistent with reports she received from other inmates. Pohutsky said she attended a meeting of the warden’s forum, which includes several inmate representatives, at the women’s prison June 15 and “multiple of them said they had tried to alert staff that there was a serious issue and were ignored.”
Jenni Riehle, a spokeswoman for the Corrections Department, has declined to comment on those reports, pointing to the pending internal investigation.
Bailey, founder of a band at the prison called STEAM (Self-expression Through Education, Arts and Music) said Hoath, her friend and music student, was a normally upbeat young woman and a student at Eastern Michigan University, involved in many prison activities, who played the harmonica. Hoath, who often went by the nickname “Zella,” recently received a diploma from Jackson College and, in March of this year, gave a presentation on the use of improvisation to respond to trauma and solve problems at an undergraduate symposium at EMU.
According to the autopsy report, Hoath previously attempted suicide by taking aspirin and other drugs in 2014 and had a cluster of scars and partially healed wounds on her left arm that were consistent with self-harm.
The report said that when Hoath arrived at the hospital, she was alert and responsive, with an elevated heart rate and sweating. “While awaiting laboratory testing, her condition deteriorated and she became unresponsive,” the report said.
Investigations are ongoing into all four deaths. Reports that are still pending in Hoath’s deaths are ones from the Michigan State Police and an internal investigation by the Michigan Department of Corrections.
An autopsy report released by the Corrections Department July 9 said the May 13 death at the prison of 28-year-old Khaira Howard was caused by a blood clot to her lung.
Grand Rapids attorney Tim Holland. who is representing Howard’s family, said in a July 10 telephone interview with the Free Press that the report is consistent with his view that Howard died from inadequate medical care at the prison.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24 hours a day at 800-273-8255 to speak to a counselor if you’re in a crisis. Among the warning signs of suicide are talking about suicide, expressions of hopelessness, personality changes, depression or giving away possessions. To learn more, go to https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Autopsy says 36-year-old inmate at women’s prison died by suicide
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
