Askia Asmar
Askia Asmar, 67, was held at Deerfield Correctional Center in Capron, Virginia, during a COVID-19 outbreak. His sister, Maudie Howell, said they were raised together by a single mother in Richmond, and that he used to do her hair before school. On the night of September 27, 2020, men in his quarantine pod reportedly found him face down on the shower floor, bleeding and breathing with difficulty, and several of them say a doctor refused to enter the pod to help him. Men in the pod were later told he died of COVID-19; he had cancer and other health conditions, and his request for early release had been denied. The Virginia Department of Corrections did not answer questions about his death.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (neglect alleged). Prison staff told men in his quarantine pod that he died of COVID-19, and men in the pod say a doctor refused to enter the pod to help him after they found him bleeding on the shower floor.
Reported by: Virginia Department of Corrections prison staff (the agency that held him); men held in his quarantine pod.