Advocates bringing attention to rise in Missouri prison deaths
By Jenna Wilson
More than 100 inmates die in Missouri prisons each year and that number is continuing to rise, bringing attention to the state’s correctional system.
The Missouri Prison Reform organization collects data from the Missouri Department of Corrections about once a month, and trends are showing deaths in state prisons are at an all-time high.
“We’ve been tracking this information since we started this organization,” said Lori Curry, the group’s founder and director. “As far as people dying in their custody, we’ve gone as far back from 2006 to current.”
In 2022, there were 136 deaths inside Missouri prisons. In 2023, the number was 137, and so far in 2024, there have been 110 reported deaths.
“These numbers are the highest we’ve seen and it’s a concern for both people that live in prison as well as the people that care about them,” Curry said.
The totals include natural deaths, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections. Curry noted that the Missouri Prison Reform presumes there are other contributing factors for causes of death including lack of medical care, overdoses and violence.
In 2022, Missouri prison officials decided to end physical mail to help end drug exposure, but overdose deaths are continuing to go up.
“Even after the department stopped the ability to send books and physical mail, these incidents of inmate overdoses are continuing to rise,” Curry said. “We greatly believe that it’s people working in prisons that are bringing in contraband.”
The reform group is advocating for changes statewide in hopes of bringing justice to families with loved ones who have died from unnatural causes in jail and creating a better community post-incarceration.
“A lot of people think about inmates in prison as people who are there for charges like murder or rape, things that are extremely violent, and that’s just not the case,” Curry said. “Many are in prison for drug charges or even nonpayment of child support, and over 90% of people in prison are coming home someday. They’re going to be your neighbors and ultimately, we want them to be good people when they come out.”
