On November 7, 2013 Virginia
Willis, a D.C. resident, testified before the Committee on the Judiciary and Public
Safety at a Public Oversight Hearing regarding her fiancé’s suicide at the D.C. Jail in June of 2013. Mrs. Willis came before the committee with
many unanswered questions: what is in the cells that can be used for inmates to
hang themselves and what is being done to change that? What measures are put in place if an inmate
comes in with a mental illness? Is old paperwork being pulled up? Unfortunately, besides naming a specialized
task force and referring to an expert’s report on the current state of the D.C.
Jail, Chairperson Tommy Wells found himself apologetic and unable to answer
such imperative questions.
