Where we are today

April 19th, 2024 I took a bit of a much needed break after the decision of Judge Nebel, and I still feel the same. Today, we await the trial of Denman & Brinkman, the 2 officers charged with misconduct. After hearing their testimonty I am baffled as to why they did what they did? They both wrote reports and the reports were identical, so identical the AG and both courts feel they were written in tandem. Not only did they lie on the reports, their actions are quite disturbing. They put Jon in a transport chair, put a spit mask on him and a jacket across his chest. He had passed at that point, so why do those things? To hide the fact that he was passed away. So that no one would see he was not breathing, and so no one would see his face had changed from death, coloring, etc. They held his head upright in that chair to avoid it from flopping around. These are the actions of these 2 people. I dont refer to them as men as their actions are less than that of a man. They both disgust me. Why would you go to that level of depraivity and for what? To cover for those who committed abuse and neglect?! Follow our social media on fb for more frequent updates as trial approaches May 8th-10th. #justiceforjon October 2023 Its been a month or so since Judge Nebel made the decision to dismiss the charges against 6 of the 8 officers/staff charged in Jon's death. Judge Nebel stated that this case would haunt him for the remainder of his career and life, but that the state was not able to prove the 4th statute of involuntary manslaughter to be able to be sent to trial. These monsters are able to go back to their normal life and walk away, after they testified in detail of Jons horrific death. Over & over, 1 by 1, they all testified how Jon "wanted" to die. It was like being told he was dead all over again hearing the judge dismiss. We still have 2 officers of the 8 who have been sent to trial for misconduct. That pre trial starts Dec 5th 2023. Please follow our fb page for regular updates as we press legislatively to get the segregation bill passed and changes made. June 21, 2023 Well, the day has finally come! I was called in to meet with the Attorney generals office in person this Tuesday, I was very nervous as I have never been asked to meet in person only via zoom. As I entered the room I greeted Mr. Phil Jacques and sat down, he wasted no time to jump right in and tell me the AG's office HAS CHARGED 8 STAFF IN JONS DEATH!!!! This is the info we have been waiting for, for 4 LONG and grueling YEARS. Thank you Jesus! Keep following for more updates! February 2/27/2023 Its been a while since our last update and for good reasons! While I personally needed the time to step away from a few things, i was still fighting behind the scenes. Also, I did not want to give the public/people responsible for Jon's death the info I was given at the time. Where are we today? Well, we are still awaiting the official charging decision from the AG's office. I am in communication with them every week and hear updates regularly and things are progressing quickly and shaping up in the direction I am happy with! We will see justice for Jonathan this year. In the mean time, the MDOC has begun accepting some changes that were requested over a year ago to the Seg units, hopefully this makes a difference and saves lives. As we approach the 4 year mark of Jonathans murder, I am anxious and hopeful for criminal charges to occur soon. I will keep fighting and looking to change the laws regarding segregation here in MI. #JusticeforJon May 25th, 2022 If you follow our social media you know Jon's birthday was Monday May 23rd, he would have been 42 this year and potentially home on parole this year. This birthday without him seems doubly hard knowing this info. However, today the 25th I recieved some great birthday news regarding Jon's case. The Marquette prosecutor, Matt Wiese called with their update and info I was not expecting. As you know the AG's office had a conflict of interest in handling Jon's case due to also handling the civil side of matters for the State during our civil suit, I was told by the division chief of criminal trials that their office would not take back the case and it remained a conflict of interest. Well, today we learned the AG's office has now taken the case and hiring a special prosecutor, it is NO LONGER A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. This is a positive step in the right direction. Mr. Matt Wiese of the Marquette prosecutors office told me that it is his opinion that 14 staff members should be prosecuted/charged in Jon's death and that he will strongly recommend this to the AG. Mr. wiese is President of the Prosecuting Attorneys Assocation of MI, his opinion holds some weight. Now we wait to see how the AG will proceed. Continue to pray for justice for Jon! March 29th, 2022 It has been a while since I have updated the website as to what has been happening with Jon's case, after 2 years of pushing forward a mental break was needed. Day after day I would share Jon's story in interviews and in events, and every day I would go home and break down. But never the less, here we are; we just passed the 3 year anniversary of Jon's death on March 11th, 2022. Needless to say, it is discouraging to say that not one of the staff members have been held accountable for Jon's death to date. The Marquette county prosecutor's office is still investigating the case and hope to have a decision soon. I am told there are over 4000 pages of evidence to cover as well as video and that funding plays a part in the hold up. I call it politics. I have recently found that most of the staff who were fired were rehired after the civil suit closed, how ironic (insert sarcasm here). I have met with multiple senators, legislators & represenatives some who are compassionate, others who refuse to believe this sort of abuse occurs in our system & some who think it is justifiable. It sickens me that we have men in power who feel this way. Stay tuned for our latest interview with Death by incarceration this week and hopefully our next update is the announcement of charges. DD August 6th, 2021 I have met with the Marquette county prosecutor and his team twice now and hope to have an answer soon on whether or not criminal charges will occur. It would seem to me that politics and familiarity play a huge roll in this situation and being that the MDOC is most likely one of the largest employers in the Marquette area, it's not surprising. It has been 879 days since the Alger staff murdered my brother. June 21, 2021 I have been in contact with the Marquette co prosecutor's office and they assure me the case will be reviewed thoroughly to be able to come to a decision. I have followed up and met via zoom with the Prosecutor himself to discuss. He says he needs more time to review as the video is lengthy. I expressed my concerns and what I feel like is a conflict of interest. Still waiting. Mean while the civil suit has been settled and we can close that chapter of our lives shortly, however there are those of us who will never move on. I was asked by the attorney for Corizon health care if I felt the settlement was fair? My response, "no, no amount of money you could offer me is fair in return for taking my brothers life". March 27th,2021 The attorney generals office, after hanging on to the investigation of Jon's death for almost a year, has decided that it is a conflict of interest to handle the criminal investigation because the civil division represented the MDOC in our civil suit. Jon's case has been forwarded to the Marquette Co Prosecuter's office. We should be notified once its reviewed and assigned. In addition, after reviewing the state employee directory, we see that 8 of the 12 employees named in our suit are NO LONGER employed with the state of Michigan. The names below that are in bold font are those that are still employed by the State/MDOC. January of 2021 We await the attorney general and their decision as to whether they will bring charges against the MDOC & Corizon Staff in Jon's death. The attorney general must review the MSP's investigation into his death. We have also filed a lawsuit civily against the same staff listed below and Corizon. BARBARA L. BEDIENT, GEORGE R. WOOD,AMY WESTCOMB, DEBBIE L. MILLER,PAUL A. ZELENAK, NATHAN E. MOSER,DENNIS SMITH, JOHN P. CRANE, DONNAM. KOVAR, ANDREW G. BOUDREAU, J.VANOVERLOOP, and CATHERINE S.BAUMAN