Miranda Smith, daughter of West Virginia inmate Alvis Shrewsbury, wants to know more about deaths in West Virginia jails.
So does Kimberly Burks, the mother of Quantez Burks, who died at Southern Regional Jail.
They were joined at a press conference today by national and state representatives of the Poor People’s Campaign, which called for heightened attention by West Virginia officials and an investigation at the federal level.
“The mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and family members of those who have died at the hands of our jail system or in our jail system in West Virginia need and deserve answers,” said Rev. William J. Barber II, president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chairman of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.
“The people of West Virginia cannot be left in the dark and we cannot allow our elected leaders to continue to ignore what is unfolding right in front of them.”
Thirteen deaths were reported over a year’s time at Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, Raleigh County. A class action lawsuit was filed last fall over conditions at the jail.
About a hundred more inmates have died at West Virginia regional jails over the past decade, press conference organizers said.
“Poverty, nor a prison sentence, should not be a death sentence,” Barber said. “Countless low-income West Virginians of all races, black or white and others, have died under the watch of the state prison and jail system.”
He added that the jail system has been affected by major understaffing issues along with overcrowding.
Barber, at today’s online press conference, said the situation merits serious and open attention by West Virginia’s leaders. Those who spoke also want to be assured of a federal investigation.
“We need an independent federal investigation. We need it now. We need the Justice Department to come in and meet with these families,” said Barber, who also asked for the involvement of Senator Joe Manchin and Gov. Jim Justice.
Rallies are being planned for Charleston this Saturday and again on March 10.
Kimberly Burks spoke about her son, 37-year-old Quantez, who died a year ago, March 1. He was arrested Feb. 28, 2022, and charged with wanton endangerment and obstructing an officer, accused of discharging a firearm at his home. His family says a private autopsy indicated blunt force trauma wounds all over his body and that he died of a heart attack.
“I threw my phone. I started crying,” his girlfriend, Latasha Williams, described after being told of his death by a magistrate.
The daughter of Alvis Shrewsbury, an inmate who died at Southern Regional Jail in September, described similar shock. Alvis Shrewsbury, 45, turned himself in last Aug. 29 while facing a second-offense charge of driving under the influence.
During that time, “he was telling us the other inmates in there — there were three in particular — they were beating him for his food, to take his tray during the meal times,” said Miranda Smith, his daughter.
A deputy told the family that Shrewsbury had been transferred to Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital. “And when they got him there, you know, we were thinking, thank God he’s gonna get some help. But they said he didn’t make it,” Smith said.
He died after being in jail for 19 days.