Jamie Wallace
Jamie Wallace was 24, and only weeks before he died he became the first incarcerated person to testify in the federal trial over mental health care in Alabama's prisons, telling the court about his illness and how little help he received. A lawyer who worked with him said he was desperate for treatment and knew he had done something important by speaking up. On the night of December 15, 2016, he was found in his cell at Bullock County Correctional Facility in Union Springs, and the Department of Corrections called it an apparent suicide. His lawyers and advocates say he had asked for help again and again and that his crises were dismissed as faking, and the department did not announce his death for five days.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (neglect alleged). The Alabama Department of Corrections says he was found hanging in his cell, an apparent suicide, while his lawyers and advocates say he repeatedly asked for help and his attempts were treated as faking.
Reported by: Alabama Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); his lawyers and advocates.