Mary Faith Casey
- Age: 65
- Name of Jail: Pima County Jail
- Location: Tucson, AZ
- Cause of Death*: Protein calorie malnutrion
- Incarceration Type: Pre-trial detention
- Private Company: NaphCare
- Incarceration Duration: Nearly four months
- Date of Death: October 6, 2022
Mary Faith Casey was a 65-year-old mother and grandmother who lived in Tuscon, AZ. She was arrested on April 30, 2022, when a commercial security guard called the police to remove her from a parking lot. The police had an outstanding arrest warrant for Casey, for failure to register her address, and she was booked into the Pima County Jail. According to a lawsuit 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 while incarcerated but did not receive them in a timely way, according to the lawsuit. Her condition soon declined and she experienced symptoms of severe psychological distress, including an impaired ability to eat or swallow. She stopped eating and hardly drank water. Over the course of about four months, her weight fell from 145 pounds to around 90 pounds.
Casey was "unable to alert the outside world of her condition," according to the lawsuit. Her family was unable to contact her while she was incarcerated. Casey had a loving, supportive family, and, in the past, she had always gone to great lengths to stay in close communication. During previous jail stints, she would send effusive letters to her children, Carlin and Karina, festooned with hearts and stickers. “I love you with the heart of a lion,” read one; in another, she’d included a coupon for “mucho hugs and kisses.” This time, one of Mary’s sisters, Michelle, said the family was met with “radio silence.”
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; her criminal charges were dismissed. But her condition was dire. Released to at-home hospice care at the home of her sister Kaj in September, Casey died soon after, of protein calorie malnutrition.
A spokesperson for NaphCare declined to comment on the specifics of Casey’s case but stated that the lawsuit’s claims were “inaccurate and “demonstrably false.” The spokesperson stated, “We are confident in the quality of care provided to our patients and remain committed to providing the highest quality healthcare to every patient.”
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos declined to comment, citing pending litigation. In court, Pima County and Sheriff Nanos filed a motion to dismiss several claims in the case, which was largely denied.
A full account of the lawsuit—including the estate’s allegations against NaphCare, Pima County and others, as well as each party’s response—is available through PACER (Case 4:24-cv-00220, District of Arizona).
