A Sacramento jail inmate died after getting COVID. His widow says he never got medical care

William Francis Stevens had been in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail since December 2019, held on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with stealing his dead brother’s identity to obtain Social Security payments and medical benefits to treat his melanoma.

In November, Stevens took a plea deal that he and his lawyer hoped would soon allow him to return to his wife in Stockton.

Then, in January, he got COVID-19 in the jail.

One month and four days later, on Feb. 16, the 53-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell and died that morning at Sutter Medical Center.

Stevens’ cause of death has yet to be determined, according to Sacramento County Coroner Kim Gin.

But Stevens’ wife, Jasmine McFadden-Stevens, and his defense attorney, Jennifer Mouzis, believe he died because he was allowed to languish with the virus for more than a month despite repeated requests for medical attention and an outbreak of COVID-19 at both of the county’s facilities.

“I need to know what happened,” said McFadden-Stevens, who last saw her husband in person in February 2020 because of coronavirus restrictions at the jail. “This is a serious situation.

“It’s a pandemic and it killed my husband, and I truly believe it was because they didn’t seek medical attention for him.”

Stevens’ attorney says he was exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms before he died but was not receiving proper medical help.

“Those who saw and spoke to him in the hours leading up to his death reported that he was suffering from the symptoms of COVID-19 immediately prior to his death,” Mouzis said. “They also report that there was no treatment given to him or others suffering from COVID, and the conditions in the jail for those afflicted with COVID are inhumane.”

No inmates have died of COVID in Sacramento’s jails

If Stevens died of COVID-19, he would be the first Sacramento jail inmate determined to have succumbed to the virus during the pandemic, which has surpassed one year.

To date, only four inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 — three from the Main Jail and one from the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center near Elk Grove — have been hospitalized, and county health officials say the hospitalizations could have been unrelated to their diagnosis.

The coroner says Stevens’ autopsy results and an official cause of death may be months away.

“I don’t know what his cause of death is,” Gin said last week. “Just because someone has COVID doesn’t mean they died from it.”

Gin added that family members are routinely being told to wait three months before an official cause of death is known and that COVID-19 and related deaths — drug overdoses and suicides, for example — have overwhelmed her office.

“We are beyond swamped,” Gin said. “This has just been a horrible year.”

Inmate learned he had COVID from his lawyer

Stevens’ lawyer and wife say they are perplexed by a number of factors surrounding his death, including the fact that his medical records do not reflect that he tested positive, and that Stevens learned he had tested positive from his lawyer, not jail medical staff.

“They are not notifying any of the inmates they are positive,” Mouzis said. “They aren’t telling them.

“I would stake my professional reputation that they aren’t telling them. This is a public health emergency. What happened to Mr. Stevens is not OK.”

County health spokeswoman Brenda Bongiorno said inmates are told the results of their COVID-19 tests by jail medical staff.

“The protocol of Adult Correctional Health Services (ACH) is to notify patients of their COVID test results (positive or negative) and to provide patient education and follow up health visits with patients as clinically indicated,” she wrote in response to queries from The Bee.

And Sgt. Rod Grassmann, a spokesman for Sheriff Scott Jones’ office, said he has seen inmates being advised about the results of their tests.

“When I was a deputy there they would get their results,” Grassmann said. “I’ve been standing by when the doctors are dealing with the inmates, and it looks like any visit you and I would have with a doctor.”

But Mouzis said she has talked to other defense attorneys who say they have experienced the same problem, and adds that another one of her clients was tested five times and not told of the test results until he submitted a formal request.

“They don’t tell the inmates anything unless the inmates stir up trouble,” one client’s wife wrote in an email Mouzis shared with The Bee and asked that the inmate not be identified.

Lawyer learned client had COVID from another attorney

Mouzis said she discovered Stevens had tested positive when she was contacted by the Federal Defenders Office on Jan. 13 and was told he had tested positive the day before.

Chief Assistant Federal Defender Ben Galloway said the first notification that Stevens had COVID-19 came from a Jan. 13 “nightly situational report” provided by the U.S. Marshals Service to federal defenders on the status of their clients in the jail.

“It is also accurate that inmates have not been told by the sheriff whether they tested positive,” Galloway added. “I experienced that with my COVID-positive clients at the jail, and many attorneys I notified told me they were the first to inform their clients of the positive test results.”

More than 1,000 pages of medical records Mouzis received from the jail regarding her client show that he was complaining of illness on Jan. 1.

“I think I’m getting sick I have fever sore body and (throat),” Stevens wrote in a request for medical care, or a “kite.”

The records do not reflect that he was measured as having a fever, and list his condition as “asymptomatic” and denying he had the chills.

Records show COVID-19 test done, but no results given

On Jan. 11, the records indicate that Stevens received a coronavirus test.

“Test process, risks and benefits explained,” the records state. “All questions answered.”

There is no indication Stevens was told the results of his test, and Mouzis said he first learned he was positive from her.

A Jan. 24 entry in his records, nearly two weeks after the test, quotes a “kite” as asking, “Was my COVID-19 test positive or negative can you please let me know thanks.”

Four days later he wrote in all capitals, “So you guys got me good you should be happy I tested (positive) for COVID. This never would have happened had you let me be thank you all because I have a fed case.”

Because of COVID-19, Mouzis said, she is limited in her ability to communicate with clients, using either pre-arranged video conferences or confidential phone calls.

Mouzis asked for the medical records on Jan. 14, one day after learning of the diagnosis, and believes she told Stevens of his diagnosis between the Jan. 24 and Jan. 28 entries in a confidential phone call to her from the jail.

“I know he wasn’t feeling well, so he called me and I told him, you did test positive for COVID,” Mouzis said.

On Jan. 30, an entry in the medical records lists Stevens complaining of body and joint aches, having no ability to taste, loss of appetite, and night sweats and fever.

Stevens continued making medical requests into February for lotion for dry skin and, in a Feb. 11 entry, for copies of his mental health records.

Inmate found unresponsive in cell day he died

The next, and final, entry came Feb. 16.

“Pt found by custody staff and CPR started by deputy at that time; EMS called at time of discovery,” the records say. “Pt found laying supine on lower bunk; unresponsive and without pulse or respirations. Pt’s limbs were flaccid and body was cool to touch. Lips were cyanotic.”

Medical workers tried at least three rounds of CPR and used a defibrillator until Stevens was taken out to be transferred to Sutter hospital.

“No signs of life on departure,” his records said.

That morning, Stevens’ wife of 16 years says she woke up and found a phone message asking that she call the Sacramento County coroner.

“And I said, Oh, my God, please don’t let it be my husband,’” McFadden-Stevens said. “And I called back right away and she said they found him unresponsive in his cell.

“But she wouldn’t give me any more information.”

On Tuesday, Stevens’ case in federal court officially ended, as U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller dismissed his indictment and vacated the April 26 hearing at which he had been scheduled to face sentencing.

Prosecutors asked for the dismissal on the grounds that he was dead.

This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.