---------the following article comes from KPHO Channel 5 News/CBS Phoenix--------
Woman claims inmate husband died after lack of medical help
Posted: Oct 12, 2012 8:52 PMUpdated: Oct 12, 2012 9:12 PM
A Phoenix woman claims her husband died after being refused medical treatment at Lewis Prison in Buckeye.
Anthony Brown, 43, died at St. Joseph's Hospital on Monday, Oct. 8. After performing an autopsy, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office initial finding is that Brown died of natural causes.
"Nothing natural about a 42-year-old man that laid there for three or four days and died slowly," said widow Jami Brown. "There's nothing natural about that."
Jami Brown said she last spoke to her husband Thursday morning, Oct. 4.
"He was in a good mood, everything was great, you know," she said.
After that conversation, she had trouble reaching him. She visited the prison in Buckeye on Sunday and was unable to find out details of her husband's condition.
She was informed early Monday morning that he had passed away. Since then, she has been able to piece together what may have happened after talking with prison officials and other inmates who were close to her husband.
On the Friday after her last visit, Anthony Brown came down with a severe migraine headache.
"The pain got worse, the pain got worse," Jami Brown said. "He was vomiting and his balance was off and he fell."
She said her husband and other inmates were begging for medical help, but that corrections officers blew them off.
"There were probably 15 to 20 officers and medical staff that had seen him in that condition and not one person did their job. Not one," she said.
Wexford Health Services operates the medical units inside state prisons.
They provided CBS 5 the following statement:
"Wexford is awaiting word on the autopsy to determine the next steps and the reason for his (Mr. Brown) passing."
Anthony Brown was serving a 10-year sentence for aggravated assault. He was set to be released next September.
"My heart hurts," Jami Brown said. "I mean, he laid there for three days and nobody did anything.
Nobody did anything for him."
The Arizona Department of Corrections is investigating Anthony Brown's death.
