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Third inmate dies at Huron Valley Women's Prison
Ashley Hoath died on Saturday, the third woman from Huron Valley Correctional Facility to die while incarcerated in less than a month. Summer DesJardin has been out of prison for less than a month. She tells FOX 2 she knew all three of the inmates who recently died and, like them, has her own experience of failing health inside the prison walls.
(FOX 2) - The calls for change are continuing after the death of another inmate from Michigan’s only women’s prison.
Big picture view:
Ashley Hoath died on Saturday, the third woman from Huron Valley Correctional Facility to die while incarcerated in less than a month.
Summer DesJardin has been out of prison for less than a month. She tells FOX 2 she knew all three of the inmates who recently died and, like them, has her own experience of failing health inside the prison walls.
The backstory:
It’s a disturbing pattern inside the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Pittsfield Township, as inmates were dying after allegedly complaining of failing health prior to their deaths. The latest woman was Hoath, who died at a hospital after a corrections officer allegedly noticed she was feeling unwell.
That’s according to the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC).
The cause of death will be determined after the results of an autopsy. The same can be said for Jennifer Wallace, who died on November 16, 2025. Then there are the two women who died over the past month: Khiara Howard on May 13 and Rebecca Fackler on May 17.
Many other prisoners have long complained about getting ill inside the prison, claiming they were living with black mold. One former inmate, now paroled after a six-year sentence for conspiracy to commit armed robbery, says someone needs to speak up for these women.
"Those women are human beings. They deserve medical treatment, and they are not something that you can throw away in the trash. They have families and kids and people who care about them. I care about them, and they helped get me through the lowest part of my life," said DesJardin.
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Full Interview: FOX 2 sits down with former Women’s Huron Valley inmate
Summer DesJardin was recently released from Women’s Huron Valley on May 13 after serving since October 2021. It is alleged that inmates live in squalor. FOX 2 sits down with DesJardin with her testimony regarding the conditions of the prison.
MDOC Director Heidi Washington issued a statement on the death of Ashley Hoath. It read, in part:
"I want you to know that we are working aggressively to investigate the circumstances that led up to Ms. Hoath being sent to the hospital. I can promise you that the community will have answers to what caused this death, and the ones that have preceded it."
What's next:
A group of 30 lawmakers called for Heidi Washington to step down, and others have asked for an independent investigation into Huron Valley.
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