This was Charles Hobbs. 52 y/o. Caged in Miami jail. Approved for house arrest. But nowhere to go. So he remained. Then contracted COVID. Was largely ignored. Last Wednesday, he was struggling to breath. Convulsing. Cellmates banged on the bars. Guards took their time. He died. 
Other men quarantined in Mr. Hobb's squalid cell--also positive for COVID--shared their stories in the form of sworn declarations. The declarations enabled attorneys to file additional evidence in their suit against Miami & the Department of Corrections. I've been reading them.
"Charles Hobbs was housed in dorm 3A4 with me. We would clean the bathrooms together. He slept 2 bunks away from me. I considered Charles a friend. Charles’ condition deteriorated dramatically. Too weak to get out of bed. Visible trouble breathing. Stopped eating."
Despite one week of his condition getting "dramatically worse, Charles did not receive any kind of medical attention aside from a nurse taking his temperature a few times. I believe Charles was too weak to take himself down to the medical clinic."
The man writing these words on behalf of his now-deceased friend, killed by a deliberate indifference to human life, is Gregory Arrington. Jailed since early March. "I have a rare kidney disease, which makes me concerned I could be at a heightened risk for COVID-19." He goes on:
"On Monday April 27 Charles was very dizzy. Looked like he was about to pass out. A nurse took him down to the clinic in a wheelchair. He was then sent straight outside to mandatory rec in the hot sun. I thought it was cruel he was forced to go outside given how weak he was."
Another perspective: Efrain Garcia was also quarantined w/ Charles Hobbs. "I have diabetes, high blood pressure, & fatty liver disease, all of which put me at high risk for complications from COVID-19. I am currently positive for COVID-19." He remembers how ill Mr. Hobbs was:
"The evening on April 28, I could tell this man was struggling to breathe. He had a lot of mucus coming out of his nose & was loudly trying to breathe through his mouth. I went w/ a few other guys to try to find a guard & alert him this man needed urgent medical attention."
Efrain Garcia remembers: "We went to the door of our dorm and spoke to a corporal in the hallway about what was happening [i.e. a man in a COVID quarantine unit struggling to breath]. The corporal told us, 'That is not my problem,' & walked away."
"Early morning April 29, I woke up to commotion. Several people were pounding on the door, trying to get a guard’s attention. The sick man was lying motionless in his bed. A guard finally came & started hitting the sick man’s bunk bed w/ his walkie talkie, trying to wake him up."
Gregory Arrington was one of those who tried alerting the guard about the emergency: "I saw Charles was gasping for breath in his bunk, and his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. It looked to me like Charles was unconscious, but his eyes were open. I alerted a guard."
"When the medical staff was trying to take Charles out of our dorm, he began shaking violently. To me, it looked like he was having a seizure. The nurses had to hold Charles’ body down to prevent him from falling out of his bunk bed. It was terrifying."
At the time Efrain Garcia was interviewed, no one in the COVID quarantine cell knew for sure whether Charles Hobbs was dead: "We all believe this man died in our dorm before our eyes. We have not heard anything from the guards about what happened or whether this man recovered."
A few days later, Gregory Arrington found out: "The medical staff took Charles out of our dorm on a stretcher. We did not see him again. Yesterday, on May 2, a guard came into our dorm to collect some of Charles’ property. Another guard then told us that Charles had died."
Fear: "It was terrible to watch Charles’ deteriorate each day. I am so anxious watching this crisis unfold in the jail. I want to be with my family & particularly my grandchildren. Im not in this alone. There are 30+ other people in my dorm enduring this pandemic, scared."
Garcia too: "We are all terrified. This happened so suddenly to this man–it could happen to any of us at any time. As long as one of us is sick in this room, we'll all continue to get exposed. Social distancing is just not possible. We are packed like sardines in a can in here."
Charles Hobbs, Efrain Garcia, & Gregory Arrington are all incarcerated at the Metro West Detention Center in Miami. Where Anthony Swain, a paraplegic & named plaintiff in the lawsuit brought against the city for its abhorrent conditions is also caged:
Right now in Miami, there are 3296 people caged & 300+ COVID cases. The top prosecutor (@KathyFndzRundle) has failed to use the power she has to push for urgent mass release. She's up for reelection. Betting that mass deaths behind bars is better politically than release.
If you're moved by this horror. Outraged. Sad. Want to do something, please visit this site & campaign designed by @Dreamdefenders, one of the partners in the lawsuit. A range of actions to take: freetheblock.org/covid
