Mary Faith Casey
Mary Faith Casey, a woman in her sixties, was held at the Pima County Jail in Tucson in 2022, where her health care was provided by the private contractor NaphCare. Her family and lawyers say she stopped eating, lost much of her body weight and went without psychiatric medication while staff repeatedly saw her decline. After she was taken to the hospital in August 2022 and released to hospice, she died the next morning at her sister's home, and the coroner's office found protein-calorie malnutrition as the cause, which the family and lawyers link to her jail custody. Her children remember her as a caring, funny mother who sewed their Halloween costumes and looked after homeless people, and NaphCare disputes the family's account.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (disputed; neglect alleged). The coroner ruled the death natural from protein-calorie malnutrition, while her family and lawyers say jail staff and contractor NaphCare let her decline without medical care or psychiatric medication.
Reported by: coroner's office (medical examiner or coroner); her family and lawyers; New Yorker article, as reported by Arizona Luminaria (reporters).