Court records describe years of abuse by Ashley Hoath's ex-boyfriend, Jeremy Barron, who she said repeatedly abused her physically and sexually.
The post Woman imprisoned in abusive ex’s killing is third to die at Michigan prison in a month appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Two recent deaths at Michigan’s only women’s prison and the worsening health of a woman who says mold exposure is destroying her body are renewing calls for sweeping reforms at the troubled facility.
The post Women are suffering and dying at Michigan’s only women’s prison, and activists say lawmakers are moving too slowly appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
For weeks, Shaquillia DeShields says she tried to get help for her daughter inside Michigan’s only women’s prison.
The post Two deaths, mold complaints deepen crisis at Michigan women’s prison appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Inside a Michigan prison less than an hour from Detroit, 25 incarcerated men are doing something many people behind bars haven’t been able to do in decades. They’re working toward a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University, paid for in part by federal Pell Grants.
Congress blocked those grants for incarcerated students in 1994. It restored access in 2023. But as the Trump administration restructures the Department of Education, the future of that funding is uncertain.
The question at the center of this story: Can a college degree behind bars change who walks out — and is the country willing to keep paying for it?
Jonathan Roden has lived both sides of that question. He spent 23 years in Michigan prisons. While he was inside, the college path available to him was an associate degree through Jackson College. He wanted more.
He came home in August of 2023. Nine days later, he started at Wayne State. In December, he graduated from the Mike Ilitch School of Business.
Now he walks back and forth through those same prison gates, this time as a coordinator for Wayne State’s prison education program. Roden, a Michigan Justice Fund fellow for WDET, is opening doors for men who are right where he used to be.
He joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro alongside audio from Carlton Banks, a student in the inaugural cohort at Macomb Correctional Facility. Banks was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1994 murder of a teenage Subway employee named Angela Garcia. He was 18. He’s now 48. Under a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court ruling, he expects to come home in 2028. He calls that prospect “a blessing, but not a celebration.”
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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The post The Metro: He served 23 years. Now he’s helping the next generation earn a degree behind bars appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Nine state lawmakers and a coalition of human rights groups, pastors, and local elected leaders are calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to release a woman inmate who is seriously sick from mold exposure before she dies.
The post Lawmakers, activists call on Gov. Whitmer to free woman they say is gravely ill from prison mold appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
The story of retired baseball player Ron LeFlore is one worth repeating.
LeFlore was a gifted athlete who refused to let the mistakes he made during his childhood define him. His talent, perseverance and a little luck catapulted him out of his prison cell and onto the Detroit Tiger’s roster for six seasons. He led the league in stolen bases twice and secured a spot on the 1976 All-Star team.
Although Ron LeFlore’s story has been told before in an movie and an autobiography, author Adam Henig felt there was still more to tell.
In Henig’s book “Baseball’s Outcasts: The Story of Ron LeFlore” he details the former Tiger’s journey from the streets of Detroit to the dugout, and LeFlore’s life after the major leagues. Henig joined the show to explore some of the lesser known details about Ron LeFlore’s life.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
The post The Metro: A new book details former Detroit Tiger Ron LeFlore’s unlikely journey from prison to the major leagues appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Michigan lawmakers from both parties expressed alarm Tuesday over growing allegations of toxic mold, medical neglect, drug trafficking, sexual abuse, and systemic failures at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility.
The post Bipartisan outrage erupts at House hearing on conditions inside Michigan’s only women’s prison appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Momentum is finally building to address longstanding and systemic problems at Michigan’s only women’s prison as state lawmakers, local elected officials, and activists demand answers about mold, medical care, a recent death, and the treatment of a woman whose health has rapidly declined.
The post New push for accountability at Michigan women’s prison appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
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