A young mother who had overcome addiction died of a drug overdose just days after being booked into a privately run federal prison in New Mexico, an investigation has found. Jasmine Williams, 29, was found dead in her cell at the Cibola County Correctional Center on 14 November 2021, two days after beginning her sentence.
Williams, who had pleaded guilty to federal drug charges, had achieved sobriety before sentencing and was praised by prosecutors. She planned to become an esthetician and care for her six-year-old daughter. However, a medical examiner report revealed she died from the toxic effects of methamphetamine, fentanyl, codeine and morphine.
The circumstances surrounding her death remain unclear. Local police reported that the scene was compromised because her body had already been placed in a body bag and tagged. CoreCivic, the private company that runs the facility, later deleted security footage of her final hours, according to emails quoted in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Williams’s mother, Petrides, said: “She never even got to start her sentence. It was a death sentence. Basically Cibola became her executioner.” The Guardian’s investigation found that since 2018, at least 15 people have died at the Cibola facility, including 10 suicides, two overdoses, two deaths from health problems and one undetermined death.
The prison, which also holds Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, is under FBI investigation for what the agency has called an “epidemic” of drug smuggling. CoreCivic has pitched the facility as an ideal location for more detainees, despite the deaths.
