Many of those deaths have been at the Arizona State Prison complex in Tucson. It s very hard, because we were scared. We were praying that he wouldn t get the virus, said Lillian Coppess, whose husband, Wellington, is incarcerated at the Arizona State Prison on South Wilmot Road.
For Coppess, who heads up the Arizona S.T.A.R.T Project, each day is filled with uncertainty about what the future may hold for her husband.
There have been more than 1,300 COVID-19 cases at the Wilmot facility since the start of the pandemic, and ten inmates there have died. Since the beginning, he told me like at the beginning of April, I remember him telling me, I am going to get it because it s impossible to social-distance in prison. It is just impossible, Coppess told the Digging Deeper team.
Prison COVID outbreak spurs call to release vulnerable inmates early tucsonsentinel.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tucsonsentinel.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
David Shinn
The criminal justice reform advocacy group FAMM is calling for the termination of Arizona Department of Corrections Director David Shinn.
Representatives of FAMM have testified on criminal justice reform issues in Arizona in past legislative sessions, most recently advocating for sentencing reform.
On Tuesday, FAMM sent a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey calling for Shinn’s removal. The letter states that families of incarcerated people in Arizona have lost confidence in Shinn’s ability to keep their loved ones safe, citing recent COVID outbreaks, a riot and ongoing issues with health care and food and water quality in the prisons.