One month ago, a young man collapsed at the Heman G. Stark youth prison. According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Hector R. collapsed in the gymnasium while playing soccer. He was pronounced dead at 8:35 pm..
Questions remain as to why this 20-year-old young man died so suddenly. Rumors have circulated among concerned parents and youth in the prison as to what really happened. Did staff members take too long to render medical attention to Hector? Could he have been saved had medical personnel rushed to the scene? Was it really a heart attack? And if so, how many 20-year-olds die from heart attacks? Was it perhaps a drug overdose? And if so, how did he have access to those drugs?
When a youth dies while in the custody of the state, in addition to the family, the general public should also be informed as to what went wrong. I am frustrated by the unanswered inquiries and the lack of transparency the California Division of Juvenile Justice is willing to share with the public. Privacy is one thing but secrecy is unacceptable. “We don’t know” just isn’t good enough.
Rumors will continue to circulate. Family members are left to wonder what exactly happened and whether what happened to Hector could happen to their children. And what reassurance has been given to the youth who remain inside the DJJ? Family members have spoken up about delays in medical attention and the inadequacy of treatment prescribed. Incidents of youth living with broken bones for months before they receive any medical treatment and youth concocting their own remedies in their cells to combat fevers and aches are commonplace occurrences in the DJJ. This is a far cry from the DJJ’s commitment to “treat all people with dignity, respect, and consideration.”
In the meantime, we are awaiting the results of the autopsy report. Please contact us if you have any information regarding Hector’s family. Our prayers go out to everyone affected by this tragedy.
2 Comments
My heart goes out to the family and friends of Hector, and i support them in their healing confrontation with the perpetrators. You surely deserved better than to have young Hector taken from you. Be assured he is now in a state of being in which he can heal from the trauma and find his true happiness.
There was NO delay in first responder care or medical care. Staff who were supervising the gym immediately started life saving measures and are to be commended for their actions. if you want to really know what happened to the inmate, file for the autopsy report under the freedom of information act.
As for the drugs; how do drugs get in? It’s not rocket science. Their family members or girlfriends bring it in to them and they stick it in their rectum. Then, they bring it back to the living unit. If he didn’t smuggle it in, then he bought the drugs using money, canteen items, etc. This is common in prisons.
We could keep more of it out if the bleeding hearts would allow us to permanently remove from visiting lists those family members who are caught smuggling contraband.
Don’t blame this on the DJJ. If the wards’ family and friends really cared about the wards’ health and safety, they would stop bringing drugs in. The sad truth is that these families make a LOT of money doing exactly that. They’d rather get the cash and have a few casualties, than get their kid healthy and out of prison. This too, is no surprise, as most of these wards are where they are because of the lack of a solid, caring and responsible family unit.