Two women are dead. They died four days apart inside Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility — Michigan's only prison for women. And the agency being asked to investigate is the same one responsible for their care.

Khaira Linnette Howard, 28, died on May 13, 2026. Rebecca "Becky" Fackler, 57, died on May 17. Their deaths have raised urgent questions about whether the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) is meeting its most basic obligation: keeping the people in its custody alive.

Howard's family says the prison failed to provide her with medication for schizophrenia and that she died alone and in distress. MDOC has disputed those claims, saying it provides a "consistent community standard of care." But when an agency is accused of failing a person in its care, that agency cannot be trusted to investigate itself. Michigan residents deserve answers from someone with no stake in the outcome.

The problems at Huron Valley didn't start last week. State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky visited the facility and found what she described as dangerous mold conditions affecting the health of both inmates and staff, failures to provide appropriate healthcare, and a pattern of retaliation against prisoners and staff who report problems. "The deaths of Khaira Howard and now Becky Fackler represent a continued and systematic disregard for the health and well-being of the people incarcerated with the Michigan Department of Corrections," Pohutsky said in a statement.

Governor Whitmer has directed MDOC to investigate — but an internal review is not enough. The families of Khaira Howard and Becky Fackler deserve more than a department investigating itself. So does every woman currently incarcerated at Huron Valley.

We are calling on Governor Whitmer, MDOC Director Washington, and Warden Howard to commission a fully independent investigation into both deaths and into conditions at the facility — one conducted by a party with no institutional ties to MDOC. That investigation must include a transparent review of healthcare practices, medication access, and environmental conditions at the prison. And its findings must be made public.

Two women are dead. Michigan's government took responsibility for their lives. It must now be accountable for their deaths.