Juan Villanueva
Juan Villanueva grew up in Los Angeles, where his family moved when he was four, and his sister said he was lonely when he was apart from them. He was held at the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi, a facility run by CCA under a federal contract. His family says he repeatedly reported shortness of breath and coughing up blood and was not seen by a doctor for months, and that the delay worsened his condition. He was moved to a federal medical facility in North Carolina shortly before a May 2012 disturbance at Adams and died there on July 11, 2012; the warden, in a court filing, attributed his death to non-small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. CCA declined to discuss his medical case, citing medical privacy laws, and his family flew out to be with him in his final weeks.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The warden, in a court filing, attributes his death to non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastasis, while his family says he repeatedly reported shortness of breath and coughing up blood and staff did not get him to a doctor for months, which worsened his condition.
Reported by: the warden, in a court filing (the agency that held him); his family.