Mary Faith Casey

Mary Faith Casey was a 65-year-old mother and grandmother. She was arrested on April 30, 2022, when a commercial security guard called the police to remove two homeless people, including Casey, from a parking lot. The police had an outstanding arrest warrant for Casey for a parole violation; she was booked into the Pima County Jail. According to a lawsuit later filed by her family, "Ms. Casey was incarcerated because of her poverty and homelessness: a lack of residential address triggered a violation of her probation and a subsequent arrest.” Casey had a long history of mental illness and requested psychiatric medications but did not receive them. Her condition soon declined and she experienced symptoms of psychosis, including an impaired ability to eat or swallow. She stopped consuming food or fluids. Over the course of about four months, her weight fell from 145 to 90 pounds. “Ms. Casey’s dramatic weight loss in jail and the resulting impact to her physical health stemmed solely from her untreated mental illness,” the lawsuit alleged. Casey was “unconstitutionally deprived” of access to medical and mental health care, as well as access to the court system and her public defender, the lawsuit alleged. Casey’s family was unable to contact her during any point of her incarceration, despite numerous efforts, and she was rendered too sick to receive visits from her public defender or attend court. She was "unable to alert the outside world of her condition," according to the lawsuit. On August 16, 2022, Casey was taken to a court appearance in a wheelchair. Her appearance shocked the judge and her public defender, who filed an emergency petition to release her from jail, according to the lawsuit. Within 48 hours, she was released to a hospital and her criminal charges were dismissed. By that point, her condition was dire. Casey was released to at-home hospice care in September and died two weeks later of protein calorie malnutrition on October 6, 2022.

Mary Faith Casey's family plans to file a lawsuit against NaphCare and the county jail in April 2024.