Sunday, April 14, 2013

ASPC-Tucson/Rincon Deaths in Custody: Billy D Lee, 54.

Looks to me as if this poor fellow was recommended to the Governor for clemency just a week before he died, which suggests that his death was pretty imminent - or at least no one was expecting him to make it to the end of his  9 year sentence for what is listed in one place in his record as a marijuana violation

That's a lot of time for trying to sell some pot, especially if you're a sick man already. Billy Lee was also so mentally impaired when he was prosecuted for this crime that he first had to undergo competency exams - which appears to have been the case every time he was prosecuted for something. I don't know if he was mentally ill or developmentally disabled, but it looks from court records as if folks were pretty concerned about his capacity for criminality, which must have played into the recommendation to release him early from his term of imprisonment.

Right now, though, that's largely speculation.

I seldom post DOC death notices when causes are "natural", but I heard from the yard that Billy was last on that some of the other prisoners believe he died for lack of his insulin; we need to clear that up. If anyone is close to Billy and knows for sure this situation, please let me know so I can pass appropriate info on to his survivors and get back to the guys on his yard who are worried that he died from negelct.

My condolences to Bily's loved ones.

If you have any information for us on Billy's life or his death, please contact me: 

Peggy Plews 
AZ Prison Watch 
 PO Box 20494 Phoenix, AZ 85036 
 480-580-6807