(Dec. 4, 2015) A 50-year-old Denver jail inmate with severe mental illness died last month after he was removed from life support following an altercation with deputies while in jail custody (“Denver jail inmate Michael Marshall removed from life support following confrontation with deputies,” ABC Denver 7, Nov. 21).
Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Michael Lee Marshall was arrested on November 7, for trespassing and disturbing the peace, and was transported to the Denver Downtown Detention Center.
According to a law enforcement source, Marshall had been in the downtown jail for four days when he began acting erratically, was confronted by deputies and suffered a medical emergency, after which he was transported to the hospital.
Shockingly, neither jail officials nor hospital staff notified Marshall’s family about what had happened.
“We found out about the incident on the news,” said Marshall’s sister, Brenda Wright, “and we found out through a family member that he was in the hospital.”
Wright said that the hospital wouldn’t provide information about the patient and wouldn’t even confirm he was there until family members paid his bond.
“I understand there’s a HIPPA law,” Wright said. “I understand you can’t release any information, but I just wanted to know what happened and where my brother was.”
Family members eventually learned that Marshall had suffered extensive brain damage from oxygen deprivation.
The Denver Sheriff’s Department has been plagued for several years with problems, among them excessive force causing death or injury.
Marshall’s death adds to a slew of inmates with mental illness who have died while in custody in jails and prisons across the country this year. In Colorado, a person with severe mental illness is four times more likely to be languishing behind bars than receiving psychiatric treatment in a hospital.
How many more deaths is it going to take before those in power grow a conscience and recognize that it is beyond time to reject criminalization as an acceptable substitute for proper mental health care?
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