~~~Caged ~~~

~~~Caged ~~~
Gorillas Fighting 4 Change

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Preventable Suicides in Solitary Confinement

The full story on Tony Lester's death

There are many questions still unanswered why there were no administrators disciplined for the death of inmate Anthony Lester, a mentally ill person, incarcerated and sentenced to die at his own hands. Diagnosed with a severe mental illness, his judgment and sentence report contained a recommendation by a judge to be admitted for psychiatric care while in prison. In addition, his medical and mental health files was covered with his treatment needs and were ignored by the Arizona Department of Corrections as he was admitted, classified and sent to a non-mental health unit in Tucson, Arizona. Soon months after his incarceration, Anthony was put on a mental health watch for suicide risks and self-harm statements made to staff and mental health providers. His watch didn't last long and he was released back to general population but instead of going to the yard, he was placed in isolation via a stay in a detention cell. His needs of the "voices" he was hearing was not addressed nor was he on any medication that was part of his treatment. Shortly after being put in a detention cell, Lester, with the help of a cellmate, took a razor erroneously given to him by an officer and removed the blade. He then cut his body in many places and finally, he wrote the words "voices" in his own blood before he cut his jugular vein and bled to death.

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