Nadiyah Venable
Nadiyah Venable, 23, died suddenly on July 1, 2014 at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, a women's state prison in Clinton Township, New Jersey. Prison officials told her family she died of a seizure, but her family says she had no history of seizures or neurological illness. Her family's lawyer, William Strazza, has demanded a full accounting of the death, including records of an internal affairs investigation into earlier allegations that guards used force against her. The state corrections department said the death is under investigation, and the medical examiner had not yet determined the cause.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined (disputed). Prison officials told her family she died of a seizure, but her family, through lawyer William Strazza, says she had no history of seizures and demands a full accounting, including records of an internal affairs investigation into earlier allegations that guards used force against her.
Reported by: Edna Mahan Correctional Facility officials (the agency that held her); William Strazza, lawyer for Venable's family (family or their lawyers).