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- [00:00]
Joshua Vaughn
Wondry plus subscribers can binge all episodes of Death County, Pennsylvania, early and ad free. Join Wondry plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts. A doctor is doing his rounds in the psychiatric unit of a prison. He walks up to the cell of a man being kept alone, John Powell. The doctor sees that the inmate has stopped eating and drinking. He has lost a lot of weight and become extremely lethargic. Typically, this is when a doctor might prescribe IV fluids. Instead, the doctor recommends frequent showers, hoping that is when the patient will drink even a little water.
- [00:49]
Dr. Dana Powell
On Powell's medical log that day, the doctor writes, shower twice a day for fluid intake.
- [00:57]
Joshua Vaughn
But it's not enough. A couple days later, John Powell dies. While under the constant watch of corrections officers, doctors, nurses, and other staff, he died of dehydration, a cruel and unnecessary death.
- [01:16]
Carl Hoffman
I didn't even know of his death until 13 days later.
- [01:20]
Dr. Dana Powell
Dr. Dana Powell, no relation to the man who died, was at home when he got a call from his mother about something she'd read in the local paper.
- [01:29]
Carl Hoffman
My mom had called and asked, did you know that a prisoner died and he had the same name as ours? His name was Powell.
- [01:35]
Dr. Dana Powell
It just so happened that Dana worked weekends as a physician in that same prison, taking on a few shifts, Saturdays and Sundays, to help pay down his med school debt. But he'd never come across this inmate who shared his last name.
- [01:51]
Carl Hoffman
No, I did not know anything. I wasn't told by anybody that this guy had died. I never met, never saw, never examined prisoner of Powell, nor was ever told that I was supposed to.
- [02:03]
Dr. Dana Powell
It seemed like an interesting coincidence, nothing more. Then a few years later, he received a letter. By then, he moved on from working at the prison and got a job.
- [02:17]
Joshua Vaughn
On an Air Force base in Georgia.
- [02:20]
Dr. Dana Powell
This letter, it looks serious. It was from the Pennsylvania Department of State in Harrisburg. Dana took it to the lawyer on.
- [02:28]
Carl Hoffman
The base, and she spent a lot of time looking at this, and she said, son, this is very serious. This is a legal document. They're going after your medical license.
- [02:36]
Joshua Vaughn
The Pennsylvania Department of State was charging the medical staff listed in John Powell's file, including Dana, with medical malpractice.
- [02:47]
Carl Hoffman
She advised me to hire a private attorney, which I did.
- [02:51]
Joshua Vaughn
This was all very troubling for Dana. He could lose his medical license because of a patient he never saw. Why was Dana's name in John Powell's file in the first place? His boss, Dr. Carl Hoffman, knew exactly why. Carl was both the head doctor and the owner of the company providing medical care at the Prison. He had also been the physician on call supervising John's care after he died of dehydration. Carl had taken a look at his records and saw a missing entry right before his death, which meant that he and his staff had failed to check in on an at risk inmate. So Carl. Carl backfilled an entry, wrote in an after the fact medical instruction shower twice a day for fluid intake. Below that, he wrote, Per Dr. Dana.
- [03:50]
Carl Hoffman
Powell, I was upset. I mean, no way getting around that. It was, it was wrong. It was a lie.
- [03:59]
Dr. Dana Powell
With help from his attorney and testimony from a nurse he'd worked with, Dana went before the medical board and got the charges dismissed before the case could go to trial.
- [04:10]
Carl Hoffman
My whole life had to change, and I was $30,000 in debt just to get my name cleared.
- [04:17]
Joshua Vaughn
Carl Hoffman also had to face the medical board. He argued that he'd simply amended the record to reflect what he thought actually happened. The medical board didn't believe him. Instead, they noted that Carl likely panicked after John Powell died and made a, quote, misleading, deceptive, untrue entry to make it seem as though the inmate had received the appropriate amount of care. In the end, they fined him $1,000 for manipulating medical records and issued a formal reprimand on his medical license. Now, John Powell hadn't died at dcp. This happened at a state prison. The Department of Corrections banned Carl Hoffman from the grounds of any state prison. An internal investigation, they said, had raised, quote, very grave concerns about the adequacy of medical care provided to Mr. Powell. The Department ultimately forbade Carl's company from bidding on any future contracts. But that wasn't the end of Dr. Carl Hoffman. He lost his state prison contracts, but he kept his contracts with the county jails, including DCP.
- [05:37]
Dr. Dana Powell
Only after this scandal, his company rebranded. It became PrimeCare. When Justin Douglas became commissioner, one of.
- [05:48]
Joshua Vaughn
His first questions was, how was a.
- [05:51]
Dr. Dana Powell
Company with that history, with its ongoing record of complaints, lawsuits and inmate deaths, able to keep its contract with Dolphin county for decades? It turned out primecare had a man on the inside. A Dolphin county commissioner. And Justin would soon learn that the scale of corruption went far beyond dcp.
- [06:18]
Justin Douglas
Foreign.
- [06:23]
Joshua Vaughn
From Wondery and Penn Live, I'm Joshua Vaughn, and this is Death County, Pennsylvania. This is episode six, Exposing the Wound. Justin Douglas walked into the Dauphin County Commissioner's meeting room and took his seat on the dais.
- [06:59]
Jeff Haist
I remember being pissed that morning. Like, I just, I was angry. I don't want to put people on blast in this case. I wanted to, and I'm proud of.
- [07:08]
Joshua Vaughn
It he had a binder and a stack of papers in front of him. To his left, his two fellow commissioners took their seats, both wearing suits and ties. Justin, on the other hand, was wearing jeans and an untucked collared shirt. Even though he was dressed casual, he was taking the meeting seriously. There were reporters, community activists, and other residents of the county in the audience. A video of the meeting was being broadcast on Facebook. They were all going to be in for a show. For nearly two decades, former county commissioner Jeff Haist had been maybe the biggest power player in Dauphin County.
- [07:53]
Dr. Dana Powell
I've often said I'm extremely proud of county government, and I'm really proud of Dauphin County.
- [08:00]
Joshua Vaughn
This is an address from 2021. As commissioner, Haast was in charge of providing social services, emergency services. He led economic development projects.
- [08:12]
Dr. Dana Powell
County government is a provider, a repository, and a partner for many key things within our lives.
- [08:20]
Joshua Vaughn
He also touted his role in what he said was making Dolphin County Prison more transparent, overseeing monthly meetings at the county jail that are open to the public.
- [08:32]
Dr. Dana Powell
And even though Haste resigned as a county commissioner, he was still deeply involved in the county.
- [08:39]
Joshua Vaughn
He sat on several county boards and was a liaison for a major outdoor event.
- [08:45]
Dr. Dana Powell
But that's not what Justin was so angry about at that commissioner's meeting, because.
- [08:50]
Joshua Vaughn
Not too long before that meeting, I was able to uncover a contract between Jeff Haist and primecare. During his last four years as a county commissioner, Haste had also been a paid consultant for Prime Care. Haste was paid $60,000 a year to help PrimeCare win contracts from other county governments outside of Pennsylvania. And he was working directly with the owner of Primecare, Carl Hoffman. The same year Haist was hired at Primecare, Carl Hoffman made a deposit of more than $225,000 to Hayst bank account, money that Hayst would use months later to make a $225,000 down payment on a new house. Heist had never disclosed any of this. His co commissioners insisted they never knew he had recused himself from votes about Primecare between 2017 and 2020. But during that time, Dolphin county had increased their annual payments to prime care by over $1 million. Haste had seen the conditions at DCP firsthand. He could have done something, anything, to improve the conditions at the jail. Instead, he protected PrimeCare and lined his own pockets with over $525,000 from Hoffman and PrimeCare. Over those same years, 14 inmates died.
- [10:31]
Dr. Dana Powell
Justin was furious when he learned about Jeff Haist's relationship with primecare.
- [10:36]
Joshua Vaughn
But there was more. Around the time I was Looking into Hast's connection with Prime Care, my colleague Juliet Ryle started investigating corruption in the county, which led her deeper into the activities of Jeff Heist.
- [10:53]
Juliet Ryle
The first time I heard the name Jeff Haiste was at the Dauphin County Commissioner meeting. And Commissioner Justin Douglas, who was raising these questions and concerns about why Jeff Haist was being paid $60,000 a year to act as a liaison to the NRA's outdoor show. But it seemed like there was more there.
- [11:19]
Joshua Vaughn
Juliet's reporting revealed ties between Haste and another local official. Back in 2010, when the county was looking to build a solar farm, Jeff Hayst directed them to buy a specific property on the edge of town. It was owned by none other than Graham Hetrick.
- [11:39]
Dr. Dana Powell
The county went ahead and bought that land, land owned by an elected official.
- [11:44]
Joshua Vaughn
Apparently without really looking at other options.
- [11:48]
Juliet Ryle
What hadn't been publicly reported was that Jeff and Maria Hayst at the time were living on that same property. So they were living on the exact property where the solar farm would be built when it was being built, and Jeff Haist was the one pushing for it to be built.
- [12:05]
Joshua Vaughn
This revelation that the head of the Dolphin county commissioners was living on Graham Hetrick's property and getting the county to pay Graham for land that would become a failed solar farm really cemented the idea of the good old boys club, a group of men who were looking out for each other's interest. Juliet did call Graham up to ask about this arrangement. Isn't this a conflict of interest?
- [12:33]
Juliet Ryle
And Graham Hetrick said Pennlive would because they're trying to fuck over me. That's amazing that that would even be said. I don't know who has their hair and their ass over there, but they're certainly not being reporters. You're just trying to crucify any politician you don't like. I'm not a politician. I've never been a politician. I was trying to improve this county. I don't need to participate in having the nails put into my hands. And then he hung up on me.
- [13:01]
Dr. Dana Powell
When Justin got to that commissioner's meeting in November, he had plenty to be fired up about.
- [13:07]
Jeff Haist
This is a pattern of self service, not public service. Listen, I didn't come here to profit off my seat, tell you that. And I don't care if I lose this seat in three years because I confronted the power brokers of Dauphin County. I could care less if you're part of this. Step aside now, because the gig is up. The corrupt system will crumble.
- [13:29]
Joshua Vaughn
In just a few months, we had uncovered five Potential conflicts of interest about Jeff Haist, including one involving his wife and the local tourism board and another involving a county contract for the nra. And that's just what we knew so far. Justin called for a vote to remove Jeff Haast from all his remaining county positions.
- [13:53]
Dr. Dana Powell
The two other commissioners seemed to want this episode to be over as quickly as possible. They both murmured aye. And with that, Jeff Hays was officially retired from Dolphin county business and all the extra money that came with it.
- [14:11]
Joshua Vaughn
Hayst responded, saying he was always doing the will of the county. His attorney told us that Hayst did not admit any wrongdoing and that he had a personal and professional relationship with Hoffman. Justin was determined to have the county turn over a new leaf. Calling haste to account was a sign that the old way of doing things around Dauphin county was. Was over.
- [14:36]
Jeff Haist
And Jeff Hayes, as I know you're probably watching, with these large sums of money from Carl Hoffman and your blatant betrayal of the people, maybe it's time you voluntarily forfeit your pension and finally put the people of Dauphin county first.
- [14:50]
Joshua Vaughn
Justin then turned his attention to Prime Care. Earlier that year, Justin had called for Prime Care to be audited. That hadn't been done even once in the time they've been operating at DCP over 30 years.
- [15:06]
Jeff Haist
They've been with the county since 1988. No market comparison. No RFP. Ask almost anyone about the issues that plague Dauphin County Prison. And medical neglect is at the top. Medical requests ignored, sometimes with tragic outcomes. Every single person in this county should be outraged.
- [15:27]
Joshua Vaughn
Justin called for a request for proposals, an RFP from companies that could potentially replace PrimeCare to provide healthcare at Dolphin County Prison.
- [15:38]
Jeff Haist
Ripping off this bandage and exposing this wound is gonna be painful, and some won't have the stomach for it. But it's the only way forward.
- [15:48]
Joshua Vaughn
If people had questions about whether or not Justin would shake things up as a county commissioner, they didn't anymore. For Lamont Jones, many questions lingered. He and his family still didn't have answers concerning Tyreek's death, and it seemed like that mystery would remain.
- [16:11]
Dr. Dana Powell
But then the judge in Tyreek's case weighed in. After almost six years, Lamont was finally going to have answers. As soon as Lamont had the court filing in his hands, he wanted to read. Nagged at him. But he had to wait until the evening to dive in.
- [16:45]
Lamont Jones
I got home after my day was completely done. Then I sat down on my bed and I opened it up and began reading.
- [16:53]
Joshua Vaughn
The document was a report with recommendations from the judge.
- [16:58]
Dr. Dana Powell
Essentially, the judge had laid out all the facts of Tyreek's case and made a recommendation on whether or not the case should proceed. At the top was a lot of information that Lamont already knew, including what Tyreek was going through before he was arrested and sent to dcp. But when Lamont got to the point where Tyreek made it to dcp, he found pieces of the story that he and his family had been missing for years. According to the report and video submitted as evidence, what happened to Tyrique was far from natural.
- [17:34]
Joshua Vaughn
It detailed how more than once, an officer put his knee on the back of Tyreek's neck while he was in handcuffs.
- [17:42]
Lamont Jones
It's no different than George Floyd. He was handcuffs. The man couldn't go anywhere. There was no reason to put apply that type of pressure. It's total disrespect. It's disrespectful. I mean, what are we doing? Are we in the business of killing?
- [17:56]
Dr. Dana Powell
As Lamont read on, he was flooded with a mix of emotions. He was glad to finally see the truth, but it also hurt as I.
- [18:06]
Lamont Jones
Got further down, further down, man. You know, it was just sad to see something like this happen and pretty much cover up because they led us to another direction to believe that it was natural this was going to happen to him.
- [18:21]
Joshua Vaughn
Tyrique's family hired a forensic pathologist to take a second look at all of the autopsy materials, and he completely disagreed with Graham's findings.
- [18:33]
Dr. Dana Powell
Graham had said that inflammation in the brain, encephalitis specifically, was the cause of death. But according to the family's forensic pathologist, not only was it not the cause of death, he couldn't see encephalitis anywhere.
- [18:50]
Lamont Jones
The story just didn't sound right because he paid more attention, more so than the physical marks that were on Tyreek's body. So again, seeing this, it's like, wow, it's a shocker.
- [19:02]
Joshua Vaughn
But the forensic pathologist went further. He said that the injuries caused by the officers during the confrontation with Tyreek had played a role in his death. After reviewing all of the materials, he determined that the manner of death was homicide.
- [19:19]
Lamont Jones
This man can't be trusted. You know, he's marking deaths as a certain way. When they do a second look at it, a second examination, they come back as homicides. And someone like that does not need to be in a position like that.
- [19:32]
Joshua Vaughn
But Graham was chosen just the end of the chain. His findings protected all the people at DCP who were involved in the deaths that took place there, preventing any accountability. Lamont thought about all the Work he had done at the prison. All the times he was in meetings with jail administrators and corrections officers.
- [19:56]
Lamont Jones
It's hard because I'm like, you guys knew this? And I'm wondering if they did. As I sit on the Dauphin county advisory committee, it makes me want to look at them away now, and I have to make sure that I maintain my integrity and my work. Because it's not just about my cousin. It's about anyone that's incarcerated in that prison right now.
- [20:19]
Joshua Vaughn
One detail from Tyreek's arrest always stuck with me. There's a dash cam video of Tyreek in the backseat of the police car on the way to dcp. Yo, yo, yo, yo.
- [20:32]
Justin Douglas
All right. I promise, bro.
- [20:33]
Joshua Vaughn
Cheers.
- [20:34]
Justin Douglas
I didn't do that.
- [20:35]
Joshua Vaughn
All right?
- [20:35]
Dr. Dana Powell
Yeah, keep it.
- [20:36]
Joshua Vaughn
Keep it going, man.
- [20:37]
Justin Douglas
Don't make it any worse.
- [20:38]
Joshua Vaughn
As they pull up to the jail, Tyreek is fidgeting in the back seat. He seems agitated, anxious, and confused.
- [20:48]
Justin Douglas
What are you scooting around for, man?
- [20:50]
Dr. Dana Powell
Just calm down.
- [20:51]
Justin Douglas
So I'm going away for life?
- [20:54]
Joshua Vaughn
Tyreek asks. So I'm going away for life. Even though Tyrique was never even tried, getting incarcerated at DCP was a death sentence for him. Based on the recommendations in the report, a federal judge allowed the case to move forward against the corrections officers who the family alleged killed Tyreek.
- [21:18]
Dr. Dana Powell
They are still waiting to go to trial.
- [21:24]
Joshua Vaughn
Lamont recognizes the changes at dcp. But every time he hears about another terrible thing that happens there, he's frustrated.
- [21:34]
Lamont Jones
It doesn't seem to be slowing down. We hear the reports when we go to the meetings, and I've been biding my time again. I'm trying to have a working relationship with these individuals, and I'm hoping that I can trust them. But this is getting. This is. You know, it's getting dangerous for me. I want to make sure that I don't have a damn heart attack behind all of this stuff. Because it is stressful to know that you're fighting to implement change.
- [22:02]
Dr. Dana Powell
That concern is real because the deaths.
- [22:05]
Joshua Vaughn
At DCP have continued. An inmate at the Dauphin County Prison died today. The county says a guard found Justin Cofield unresponsive in his bunk. A death at DCP was nothing new.
- [22:19]
Dr. Dana Powell
But this time.
- [22:20]
Joshua Vaughn
Time, Lamont, Justin, the family, and the entire community rallying around them took their fight directly to Graham Hetrick's door.
- [22:46]
H
No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.
- [22:53]
Joshua Vaughn
About two dozen protesters were gathered outside the gates of dcp.
- [22:59]
H
Everybody line up and we gonna march.
- [23:03]
Joshua Vaughn
They were there because of a death.
- [23:06]
Dr. Dana Powell
The man who died was Justin Cofield. His death probably sounds all too familiar at this point.
- [23:15]
Joshua Vaughn
He was a young black man, a father of four. He went to DCP on drug charges and couldn't pay the $30,000 bail. He was in there for months and months awaiting trial until the morning of February 23, when a guard discovered him.
- [23:36]
Dr. Dana Powell
Unresponsive in his bunk.
- [23:38]
Joshua Vaughn
There were no obvious signs of trauma on Justin's body, like in the Tyreek Riley and Ishmael Thompson cases. But there's a similar playbook from the county. Officials gave vague, hollow statements with words like undetermined. An ongoing investigation. Justin's family felt shut out.
- [24:02]
Dr. Dana Powell
But Justin's mom, Nicole Banks, had followed what's been happening in Dauphin county, and.
- [24:09]
Joshua Vaughn
She wasn't about to wait for this whole process to play out.
- [24:13]
Dr. Dana Powell
She called Lamont as well as the community to come out and pressure the county.
- [24:18]
Joshua Vaughn
We demand answers.
- [24:21]
H
Shame on Dauphin County. Shame on every single person responsible for the death of so many people inside of this building here. Shame on them for the neglect of our children, of our parents, of our neighbors.
- [24:40]
Joshua Vaughn
Justin Cofield's family had requested to see their son's body.
- [24:45]
Dr. Dana Powell
According to former staff, other families have been granted those privileges before, but so far, Nicole's request had been denied.
- [24:55]
H
We demand that the family be allowed to see their son, their brother, their child's father, Kaiser nephew. We demand they be able to see his body because it is their right as his family. It does not belong to the prison. It does not belong to the county. It does not belong to Graham Hetrick. It belongs to the people right here.
- [25:20]
Joshua Vaughn
After protesting for an hour in front of dcp, folks hopped in their cars or marched about a quarter of a mile down the road to Graham Hetrick's office. As the crowd walked up to the entrance of the Dauphin county coroner's office building, something unexpected happened.
- [25:38]
Dr. Dana Powell
Graham Hetrick himself appeared in the entrance to the building.
- [25:43]
Joshua Vaughn
Nicole led a group toward Graham.
- [25:46]
Justin Douglas
The first thing I want you to understand is we cannot see him yet because we're doing what they call medical, legal autopsy to find out. I want to know everything about I represent here. I don't represent the prison. I don't represent the va.
- [26:04]
Joshua Vaughn
The family and crowd seemed ready for a confrontation. They moved even closer to Graham, who leaned into Nicole.
- [26:14]
Justin Douglas
Mother and the father. The other issue, I'm trying to do the best I can to help you get through this because my other work is as psychologist.
- [26:30]
Joshua Vaughn
Graham then hugged Nicole. It was awkward. It made Nicole's daughter wince.
- [26:38]
Justin Douglas
And I've done Multiple studies all the time on the grieving process. There's not a person in here that hasn't read about. I understand that yesterday the first thing you felt was total disbelief.
- [26:52]
Carl Hoffman
This.
- [26:53]
Dr. Dana Powell
And this happened.
- [26:54]
Justin Douglas
Yes, Friday. Total disbelief.
- [26:57]
Dr. Dana Powell
Graham isn't a psychologist or a social worker or any kind of licensed counselor. He does have a master's degree in psychology from an online for profit university. But legally, he's not allowed to provide mental health services. So, like on his TV show, Graham is playing fast and loose with the truth and not very effectively. Justin's father cut Graham off.
- [27:26]
Justin Douglas
What we don't understand is the fact that it's Dolphin County. Your shirt says Dolphin. So it's just like a hurt to where we think that everybody is old. Working together. Working together for them. I'll tell you what. You can go to any neighborhood down here. I have. I have worked more to tell the story of the dead than I ever would for the politician.
- [27:58]
Dr. Dana Powell
Lamont had been standing there silently up until that point.
- [28:02]
Joshua Vaughn
But when he heard Graham doing his usual shtick, he jumped in.
- [28:07]
Lamont Jones
I didn't want to take away from what the family, but I felt as though they were being led down the same path that they led my family down.
- [28:15]
Dr. Dana Powell
He felt like he'd heard this all before.
- [28:18]
Lamont Jones
So here's what I could say. When my little cousin died, you did his body. Tyreek Riley. It took you four months to come back.
- [28:25]
Justin Douglas
And you know why?
- [28:26]
Lamont Jones
No, but hold on.
- [28:27]
Justin Douglas
No, no. Do you know why?
- [28:29]
Lamont Jones
Why?
- [28:31]
Justin Douglas
Because we took it down to a cellular level.
- [28:34]
Lamont Jones
See? But you're not a doctor, though.
- [28:37]
Justin Douglas
I have one of the best. But you're not a collector. No, no, no, no.
- [28:41]
Joshua Vaughn
Nicole and her family kept making the same request. We want to see Justin's body. And Graham gave in. Kind of.
- [28:53]
Justin Douglas
Okay, this is what I'm going to do. I will show you a picture.
- [28:58]
Lamont Jones
That's not what she's asking for.
- [29:00]
Joshua Vaughn
Okay, that's fine.
- [29:01]
Justin Douglas
Hold on, hold on, hold on. Oh, you're not going to get.
- [29:04]
Joshua Vaughn
Was still a no. But Graham did agree to talk more.
- [29:09]
Dr. Dana Powell
With the family inside the office. I wasn't invited, and neither was Lamont. So we waited outside.
- [29:18]
Joshua Vaughn
And that's when someone else arrived. Justin Douglas walked up to where we were standing. He asked me where the Cofield family was. I pointed inside, and Justin quietly entered the building.
- [29:34]
Justin Douglas
You heading in?
- [29:37]
Dr. Dana Powell
And here's where it feels like things have truly changed at Dolphin County Prison.
- [29:42]
Joshua Vaughn
Graham could deny me and Lamont access, but he had to respect Justin's authority as county Commissioner. Justin went inside and spoke With Graham and the Cofield family, He offered to sit in and observe the autopsy. He'd be a pair of eyes for the family.
- [30:02]
Dr. Dana Powell
It wasn't perfect, but it was progress.
- [30:05]
Joshua Vaughn
And the family agreed to it.
- [30:08]
Dr. Dana Powell
Graham has repeatedly said he is proud.
- [30:10]
Joshua Vaughn
To speak for the dead, but what's.
- [30:13]
Dr. Dana Powell
Really needed in situations like this is someone who will speak for the living, someone who will understand the pain of the families impacted and treat them accordingly.
- [30:28]
Joshua Vaughn
And that's not all that's changed. First, I finally got a tour of Dolphin County Prison.
- [30:38]
Dr. Dana Powell
I'm ready to get ready to go.
- [30:39]
Joshua Vaughn
Back for the walk. Walk.
- [30:40]
Dr. Dana Powell
Through all these years of reporting, I'd had to rely on phone calls to prisoners and photographs and lawsuits to conjure up an image of this place. On this day, about 30 people, including myself, stood at the entrance to the jail. The door in front of us slowly slid open and we went inside. I saw the tiny rooms, no bigger than a couple hundred square feet, where 10 to 20 men had to live. I saw the dark, dank hallways that led from one block to the next. And I came away thinking, even cleaned.
- [31:20]
Joshua Vaughn
Up for a press visit.
- [31:21]
Dr. Dana Powell
This place is awful.
- [31:26]
Joshua Vaughn
Then, after Justin called for interest from healthcare providers, the county received proposals from five companies, which could mean that as early as this summer, PrimeCare could be replaced at Dauphin County Prison. The death rate at DCP has also been studied by a research team at UCLA that has been documenting why so many Americans lose their lives in jail and during arrest. In the case of dcp, they determined that the coroner's office appeared to have habitually misclassified in custody deaths as natural, even when attributable to traumatic violence.
- [32:09]
Dr. Dana Powell
This was especially true for cases involving deceased black men. They also found that the jail appears to have subjected black prisoners to injurious and potentially lethal violence at higher levels than white prisoners.
- [32:25]
Joshua Vaughn
We reached out to Graham Hetrick numerous times for this series and did not receive a response. That could be because Graham's got a lot on his plate at the moment. He now has a challenger for the Dauphin county coroner's position for the first time in 16 years.
- [32:45]
Dr. Dana Powell
During a candidates forum in March, Graham.
- [32:48]
Joshua Vaughn
Was asked about dcp.
- [32:50]
Dr. Dana Powell
He responded to the repeated questions by saying it was, quote, not my job to advocate or call out problems he sees at the jail that lead to bodies showing up in his morgue.
- [33:02]
Joshua Vaughn
Pennsylvania law requires coroners to determine the cause and manner of death, but also to identify where a death may have resulted from a criminal act or criminal neglect. Graham tends to leave that second part out. It isn't Garth or Samantha or Imhotep or Lamont's job to speak out about the jail. It wasn't Justin's job until after he was elected. In fact, no one who you heard from during this podcast had an obligation to come forward and expose the problems they saw at dcp. But they did it anyway because they felt it was the right thing to do.
- [33:50]
Dr. Dana Powell
As one community member said after the forum, we all have an obligation to call out problems when we see them so that change can be made. Graham isn't the only one who is going to be on the ballot in November. Lamont was sitting at a table in the kind of place where all great political ideas get their start. A sports bar. Next to him were his friends and advisors who helped him get elected to City council.
- [34:22]
Lamont Jones
We had some wings and watching some football and then I just kind of like sprung it on him. Like, hey, I'm thinking about running for mayor. Like, everybody stopped him like mid drink or mid biting their chicken. I was like, are you serious? And I'm like, yeah.
- [34:38]
Joshua Vaughn
If Lamont's meteoric rise in Harrisburg politics hadn't been shocking enough, he wanted to go even bigger.
- [34:47]
Lamont Jones
We need a better leadership, one that really works for us. It just takes more of a person that really cares. I don't have a hidden agenda. I have no special interest. I'm looking at the field of candidates right now that are out there. You know, respectfully, I don't think any of them can hold a candle to the passion that I have for our city and to see it flourish. This is much bigger than me. I'm just a conduit that can help our city get to where we need to get to, bringing in the right individuals to move our city forward.
- [35:16]
Joshua Vaughn
Lamont made it official he was running for mayor of Harrisburg. It's a far cry from where Lamont started, from surviving DCP to helping those inside to now holding real political power. When he was younger, Lamont was held accountable for his crimes. Now he chooses to be accountable for all the people of Harrisburg on behalf of everyone who looks around and knows we can and must do better.
- [35:53]
Lamont Jones
When I did things wrong, I paid for it. Even when I was doing the right thing, they still made me pay for the things I did before. So if I can stand up to that and own it, why can't they?
- [36:15]
Joshua Vaughn
Follow Death County, Pennsylvania on the Wondry app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts, you can binge all episodes of Death County, Pennsylvania early and ad free by joining Wondry plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey@wondry.com survey if you have a tip about a story you think we should investigate, please write to us@wondry.com Tips from Wondry and PennLive this is the sixth and final episode of Death County, Pennsylvania. Death County, Pennsylvania is written and reported by me, Joshua Vaughn producer is Rachel Yong Senior producers are Eric Benson and Chris Siegel Story Editor is Michael May Associate producer is Emily Locke Additional production support from Malachi Wade Fact checking by Annika Robbins Sound design and mixing by Jeff Schmidt Audio assistance by Daniel William Gonzalez Sound supervisor is Marcelino Villalpando Music supervisor is Scott Velasquez For Frison Sync Senior Managing Producer is Latta Pandya Managing producers are Heather Beloga and Matt Gant Senior Development Editor is Rachel B. Doyle Development Producer is Olivia Weber. Special thanks to R and D producer Yowei Shaw Burke Noel, Teresa Bonner and Christine Vendel. From Pennlive, Destiny Brown, Patricia Stringer, Ona Osai, Amanda Arbor, Keith Saltzball, Dina Jangdari, Pamela Parson, Pamela Roberts, Judy Lavia Jones, Kia Hansard and the countless others who for years have tirelessly worked to improve the conditions at Dolphin County Prison and advocated for the people inside. Executive producers for Advanced Local are Richard Dimon and Selena Roberts. Executive producers are n' J' Jeri Eaton, George Lavender Marshall, Louie and Jen Sargent. For Wondery.