Janika Edmond, 25, who had a history of mental illness and suicide attempts, hanged herself in a shower at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility near Ypsilanti on Nov. 2, 2015. A federal lawsuit filed last month in Detroit alleges that prison authorities could have done something about it.
The lawsuit alleges that state prison officials recklessly ignored clear warning signs of a mentally ill prisoner’s pending suicide and obstructed a Michigan State Police investigation to hide their misconduct and indifference, reports Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press. .
Prison video shows corrections officers placed a bet on whether she would become suicidal and ignored audible choking sounds coming from the shower area, the lawsuit says. Officials also ignored her request for a suicide prevention vest, known in prison slang as a "bam bam," on the day she hanged herself.
