Nine state lawmakers and a coalition of human rights groups, pastors, and local elected leaders are calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to release a women’s prison inmate who is seriously sick from mold exposure before she dies.
Krystal Clark, a 41-year-old mother of four incarcerated at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, was the focus of a press conference Friday in which Democratic lawmakers, clergy, advocates, and Clark’s family urged Whitmer to grant medical clemency.
Speakers said Clark’s health has dangerously deteriorated after years of exposure to black mold and accused Whitmer’s administration of ignoring repeated warnings about dangerous conditions inside Michigan’s only women’s prison.
Testing in 2023 found that Clark has Aspergillus, a potentially life-threatening fungus that is growing in her ears and lungs, according to medical records. Other symptoms include respiratory illness, facial paralysis, otomycosis, and debilitating weakness that requires her to use a walker.
She and other inmates say the prison is infested with mold, but the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has claimed there is little cause for concern. Yet late last year, an internal MDOC assessment documented widespread infrastructure failures that create ideal conditions for mold to grow and spread.
State Rep. Dylan Wegela, a Garden City Democrat who visited the prison last month, said he saw mold in the showers and ceiling. After meeting with Clark, he said it’s clear she needs to be immediately released or she will die.
“After meeting with Krystal, there is no mistaking that the conditions at Huron Valley are killing her,” Wegela said. “I personally saw black mold growing out of both of her ears. I’m worried that if action is not taken soon, her health will continue to deteriorate.”
He added, “The governor has the authority to grant medical clemency, and it is the state’s bare minimum responsibility to ensure that the conditions within the correctional facilities are not hazardous. The Michigan Department of Corrections must ensure the safety of all of the women at WHV by bringing in mold specialists.”
For reasons that remain unclear, Whitmer, a Democrat, has turned down repeated calls to release Clark, who was sentenced in 2011 to 17 to 30 years for armed robbery and has been complaining about mold inside the prison for more than a decade.
The mold and Clark’s health have become so severe and urgent that Democratic lawmakers are in a rare standoff with a governor from their own party.
Despite documented mold exposure that risks the health of all 1,800 women and hundreds of employees, Whitmer’s administration has not detailed what reforms, if any, are underway and has declined to answer Metro Times’s questions about conditions at the facility for more than a year.
Over the past five years, lawsuits, medical records, and internal state reports have documented sexual abuse, toxic mold, unsafe living conditions, retaliation, invasive strip searches, coercive labor practices, freezing temperatures, and failures in medical care at the women’s prison.
In front of the speakers at the news conference were signs reading, “Stop violating the civil rights of women,” “Mold is an MDOC Death Sentence,” and “Medical neglect is a crime.”
In a letter sent to Whitmer on Friday, lawmakers and advocates warned the governor that the state is violating a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
“We are writing to express extreme urgency and demand you direct your attention to Krystal Clark,” the coalition wrote in the letter. “Krystal Clark’s case calls for your humanity now. We cannot allow our government to remain complicit in the suffering endured by Krystal and the more than 1,800 women confined within the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility.”
The letter also warned that Clark’s advocacy should not become a death sentence.
“Her advocacy should not become the cause of her death, nor should any woman be punished for bringing attention to the conditions within the facility,” the letter states.
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Livonia Democrat who has helped lead legislative scrutiny of the prison, said Clark’s case is part of a larger pattern.
“It is unconscionable that anyone should be subjected to the sorts of conditions present in Michigan’s corrections facilities,” Pohutsky said. “We should not assume that Ms. Clark’s situation is unique. It is unfortunately common, and it’s incumbent upon all of us to do what we can to ensure that the people the state has assumed responsibility for are not being mistreated or abused.”
Clark’s sister, Tyronda Clark, delivered an emotional message at the press conference, saying her family has spent years trying to get help while watching her sister deteriorate.
“For years, my sister cried out for help, complaining about her breathing and telling them that something was wrong,” she said. “For years, my sister talked about the mold growing in the showers, talked about the ventilation. For years, no one took the time to even listen to her.”
She said her sister is now “almost unrecognizable.”
“This is one of the most heartbreaking things I had to deal with,” she said. “I am praying that my sister is not another life lost in Huron Valley.”
Jay Love, a longtime advocate of Clark and her spokesperson, said Whitmer has a moral choice to make.
“Let me be clear: This is about what the state of Michigan is willing to allow,” Love said. “For years, Krystal has been sounding the alarm about the conditions inside that facility, and over time it has been making her sicker and sicker. … What makes this even more urgent is that Krystal is highly allergic to mold. Mold exposure isn’t just harmful; it’s deadly.”
Rev. John E. Duckworth, pastor of Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church in Westland, said animals are treated better than the women prisoners.
“It is unbelievable because if it was an animal, dog, or a cat that was living under these conditions that these women are living in, there would be activism all over the place, and steps would be taken,” he said. “But these are wives, women, mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces, and granddaughters who are living under these conditions.”
He added, “Anyone who would turn the other way, there is something wrong with them spiritually and mentally. … Now is the right time to do what is right.”
In a video message, Krystal Clark cried as she explained her mold-related health problems.
“I’m tired of them getting away with this,” Clark said of the state. “Nothing is being done.”
She then shifted her message to Whitmer.
“Gov. Whitmer, I speak to you,” she said. “You have the power to change this. You have the power to do something about this.”
Whitmer’s office didn’t immediately respond for comment.
The letter to Whitmer was signed by state Reps. Wegela, Pohutsky, Regina Weiss of Oak Park, Jason Morgan of Ann Arbor, Donavan McKinney of Detroit, Jimmie Wilson Jr. of Ypsilanti, Noah Arbit of West Bloomfield, Jennifer Conlin of Ann Arbor Township, and Phil Skaggs of Grand Rapids, along with a broader coalition of elected officials, pastors, and advocacy groups.
Among the other signers were Aidan Sova of the Ann Arbor District Library Board, Ann Arbor City Council Member Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, Ypsilanti City Councilmember Desirae Simmons, Westland Councilwoman Melissa Sampey, Ann Arbor school board Trustee Rima Mohammad, Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, Black Voters Matter organizer Deon Davidson, Elbert Williams Voting Corner founder Leslie McGraw, Pastor Donald Phillips of Brown Chapel AME Church in Ypsilanti, Michigan College Democrats President Stella Camerlengo, Tiffany Walker of Citizens for Prison Reform, Survivors Speak Executive Director Trische Duckworth, the Michigan General Defense Committee, The People’s Coalition, and the Washtenaw County Democratic Party Black Caucus.
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