Doris Nelson
Doris Nelson, 60, was held at FCI Aliceville, a federal women's prison in Alabama, and died on June 14, 2019. A fellow prisoner remembered her as a very nice lady who taught classes for other women there. Her family's attorney said she had been recommended for transfer to a different prison because of health problems and that she struggled to get diagnostic treatment. Records released to Reason in 2023 show she waited months for a CT scan for worsening hip pain, which showed a bone lesion suggestive of metastatic disease, and she collapsed in a prison transport van on the way to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Bureau of Prisons redacted parts of those records describing her care and did not respond to a request for comment.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). Records obtained by Reason show Doris Nelson waited months for a CT scan for worsening hip pain while staff advised over-the-counter painkillers, and Reason says the Bureau of Prisons redacted parts of the records describing lapses in her care; her family's attorney says she struggled to get diagnostic treatment and the Bureau of Prisons has not explained the cause of death.
Reported by: Reason (reporters); attorney for Nelson's family (family or their lawyers); Bureau of Prisons mortality review (the agency that held her).