Tuesday, February 28, 2017

11 Years Old & Sentenced To 25


Lacresha Murray – Another Child Locked Away
Posted on January 6, 2004 by CCWP

by Diana Block
Lacresha Murray is a Black thirteen-year-old child who was convicted of negligent homicide and injury to a child. She was eleven years old when she was sentenced to 25 years! There was no physical evidence, no reasonable explanation of opportunity or motive, no witnesses and no history of violence, yet this young girl is now spending her days in a juvenile prison in Giddings, Texas.
The case is based on a so-called confession from Lacresha, which was obtained by Austin, Texas, police during a lengthy, illicit interrogation. Months before her
trial, against juvenile law and State Bar rules, Austin D.A. Ronnie Earle announced Lacresha’s identity and pronounced her guilty in a televised news conference. The media, without any investigation, headlined her as guilty as charged for two solid months, eliminating any possibility of a fair trial. By framing and imprisoning Lacresha, Earle got national attention and right-before-election proof that he was tough on crime.
Lacresha’s case highlights the growing trend of the criminal injustice system to lock children up at ever younger ages for increasing amounts of time. This trend impacts most heavily on communities of color, which are being ripped apart by this devastating combination of police, court and prison attacks. For more information about Lacresha’s case, contact People of the Heart, P.O. Box 2585, Cedar Park, TX 78630-2585, 512-707-3743, www.peopleoftheheart.org. Send donations to People of the Heart, Acct. 1888322466, Bank One Texas, Bank by Mail, Station H, 1901 Parkwood, Bedford, TX 76021.
This entry was posted in Issue 09 - September 1998 by CCWP. Bookmark the permalink.

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Sunday, February 26, 2017

Aanother Child Dies

Washington: Teen’s Death in Tribal Jail Sparks Lawsuit, Contract Scrutiny
Loaded on Feb. 8, 2017 published in Prison Legal News February, 2017, page 39 Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Cardiovascular,

Failure to Treat, Jail Specific, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Juveniles, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Guards/Staff. Location:
Washington.

On January 9, 2017, Seattle attorneys Edwin Budge and Erik

Heipt said they plan to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of the family of a teenager who died after warning jailers he had a heart condition and had previously required resuscitation. Although 19 year-old Andrew Westling wasn’t a tribal member, when he was
arrested on April 10, 2016, police in the city of Yelm took him to the Nisqually Corrections Center – a tribal jail in nearby
Thurston County. There, after telling a guard he felt like his heart was “thumping out of his skin,” he was found dead roughly 24 hours after being booked into the facility.

A Thurston County coroner listed the cause of Westling’s death as
cardiac dysrhythmia due to congenital coronary artery heart
anomalies,” and described the manner of death as natural.

However, according to a medical specialist retained by attorneys
representing Westling’s family, his heart condition was “familiar,
readily recognized, and easily treatable.” University of
Washington medical professor Richard Cummins added, “If it
were not for the unreasonable neglect of the staff of the Nisqually
Corrections Center, Andrew Westling would be alive today and
would very likely enjoy a normal life span.”

The ...

Read more...https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2017/feb/8/washington-teens-death-tribal-jail-sparks-lawsuit-contract-scrutiny/