Officials look into death of Stephanie Brinson, who’s second person in a year to die during family visit at Ione facility

Summary

Stephanie Diane Dowells, 62, was strangled during an overnight visit with her husband, David Brinson, at Mule Creek state prison in California.

Brinson, serving life without parole for four murders, claimed Dowells passed out, but authorities ruled her death a homicide.

This marks the second strangulation death during a family visit at the prison in a year; Tania Thomas was killed in July 2024 while visiting inmate Anthony Curry. Investigations are ongoing.

California is one of four states allowing family visits to maintain positive relationships.

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
    28·
    6 days ago

    Then try this. Call him Joe. Joe has a rare blood type that can cure cancer. Joe doesn’t feel like giving his blood away. No amount of persuasion or money will change Joe’s mind. If justice for one person doesn’t matter, do we have a right to lock Joe up and take his blood?

    And if we don’t have the right, why are Joe’s rights greater than the dead wife’s?

    • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
      71·
      6 days ago

      Joe is human. He doesn’t have more rights than his wife, her right to life was cruelly taken from her in a criminal act. That isn’t fixed by taking more life. It just makes the government an even bigger criminal.

      Edit: due to the scale of them taking far more lives.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
        17·
        6 days ago

        So now all prisoners know that they can kill guards and visitors and have no punishment?

        • MagicShel@lemmy.zipEnglish
          71·
          6 days ago

          Two questions:

          1. What part of what I said leads you to that conclusion? There are always ways in which a situation can be made worse if punishment is the goal.
          2. Why is punishment so important to you?

          It’s not so unlike my job. Things go wrong and situations get fucked up, but retribution doesn’t fix anything. You have to identify how to resolve any ongoing situation and then prevent it from happening again. If the guy isn’t in a situation where he can attack anyone else, what more needs to be done to keep people safe?

          There is no fixing the damage the guy has done, with or without retribution. That is only to assuage our own emotional wants.

          Look at Luigi. He (allegedly) killed one person. No aggravating factors. The laws say he can’t be executed for that, so now he’s charged with terrorism. Same with people who vandalize fucking Teslas. I doubt they are going to face execution, but nothing actually prevents that.

          If the state wants to murder someone, it will find a way to make it legal to do so if there is any avenue at all. Let’s just take it off the board.

          • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
            17·
            6 days ago

            If the state wants to murder someone, it will find a way to make it legal to do so if there is any avenue at all. Let’s just take it off the board.

            We keep going back and forth over the same point. Let’s agree to end it here.

            Have a nice day.