Willy Pepion
Willy Pepion, 22, was a grocery store worker whose mother, Wilma Fleury, described him as soft-spoken and a terrific cook, and said he was her youngest child. He died in May 2020 at the Blackfeet jail in Browning, Montana, after being struck on the head with a shovel and cleared by a hospital to spend the day in jail, where a skull fracture was not detected. His mother says his cries for help were not acted on, and other people held there reported he called out for guards to take him back to the hospital. An autopsy found a cracked skull from blunt force injury and a subdural hematoma, and a forensic pathologist said a head-injured intoxicated person should not have been medically cleared. A federal report says jail staff did not carry out required checks and falsely recorded them, while his sister, Laura-Su Pepion, disputes how the case was closed and wants more answers.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed; neglect alleged). The autopsy and a federal report attribute his death to skull fractures from blows to the head with a shovel, while his mother and sister dispute how the case was closed; his mother says his cries for help were not acted on and guards did not do the required 30-minute checks, and a forensic pathologist said he should not have been medically cleared.
Reported by: autopsy report; Interior Department report (outside investigators); his mother; his sister Laura-Su Pepion (family or their lawyers); other detainees; a forensic pathologist.