PHOENIX — Valley families came together Saturday night for a solemn reason: they have all lost a loved one who died while incarcerated.
One of those families coordinated a candlelight vigil at Estrella Jail in Phoenix Saturday night.
Outside Estrella Jail, there is a memorial for Kiethsa Sasser.
“It's very hard for me to be right here right now,” her mother said.
Her mom and sister have been putting up pictures, flowers, and holiday decorations ever since Sasser died at the jail on August 14.
“The day before I talked to her, my sister was just fine, and she was happy and she was laughing,” Jessica Johnson, Sasser’s sister, said. “But something happened to my sister behind these walls.”
Sasser was 29 years old.
“She was an aspiring chef. She loved to cook,” Sasser said. “She had a great future ahead of her absolutely and a lot of life to live. She was engaged, she had a fiancé. And it was a tragic loss.”
The family is still waiting to get the county’s autopsy report.
Now they are starting a nonprofit they’re calling Sass Foundation in Sasser’s honor. Their first event was a candlelight vigil on Saturday.
“You're supposed to be safe here,” Johnson said. “And in my sister’s situation, she was not.”
At any given time, there are 6,500-6,700 people detained in Maricopa County’s five jails, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
MCSO releases data on recent deaths in the jails.
In 2023, 41 inmates died while in jail, and in 2024, there were 27 deaths. So far this year, there have been six inmate deaths, with numbers only available for January.
“We feel for the families. These are victims. These are tragedies,” Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said.
Sgt. Enriquez says most of these deaths happen because of medical conditions, suicide, or drug overdoses.
ABC15 reported in February on 12 overdoses in one week at Estrella Jail, one leading to a death.
In response, MCSO says it is investing in X-ray machines to detect drugs on incoming inmates, saying the problem is largely driven by female inmates smuggling substances in their body cavities during intake.
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“I feel that they will really change the amount of fentanyl that's coming into our jails. And I'm going to call it fentanyl, because that's exactly what it is,” Sgt. Enriquez says.
Inmates will go through the new X-ray machines, but per MCSO Sheriff Jerry Sheridan’s new policy, detention officers will not be scanned when entering jails.
MCSO says there are several other protective measures in place to prevent deaths in the jails. Those include suicide prevention and mental health training for officers, pod searches, and drug sniffing K-9s.
The Sheriff’s Office is planning a rollout of medical wristbands for inmates, which could alert staff of a medical crisis early.
All detention officers are also trained on Narcan administration.
“To say that that we're not paying attention or that we're not caring for inmates would be definitely misleading and distorted,” Sgt. Enriquez said. “Our detention officers, they carry this Narcan, they see the symptoms and they administer right away, because we're trying to save lives.”
Inmates can also access rehab programs on their tablets, and in-person.
“I too am a recovering addict,” Christin Day, an Anonymous program volunteer, told ABC15.
Day leads the program at several locations, including the Estrella Jail. Formerly incarcerated herself, she believes rehab programs are crucial to prevent tragedy.
“I'm able to give hope and let them know that you're not alone in this situation, that there are resources available,” Day said.
Going forward with The Sass Foundation, Johnson hopes to connect grieving families of inmates who died in custody to counseling, legal advice, jail reform groups, and other services.
“I know there's more people out there like us,” Johnson said. “They can come up and don't be ashamed because your loved one was behind those gates and they passed away. You know, they are still a human being, and they matter.”
