KDOC won't say how 28-year-old inmate died in Topeka women's prison
Michele Lee Suppes died on March 22
Details surrounding the death of a 28-year-old woman incarcerated in Topeka since October 2014 haven’t been released almost two months after she died at the women’s prison.
Michele Lee Suppes died on March 22, according to state records. She was an inmate at Topeka Correctional Facility, 815 S.E. Rice Road.
Officials from the Kansas Department of Corrections won’t comment on Suppes’ death or say how she died. TCF directed questions about Suppes to the state.
Viola Riggin, the director of health care services for KDOC, said she couldn’t comment on Suppes’ case but that KDOC physicians “have not seen any concerns, at any point.”
Suppes was convicted last year of one count of involuntary reckless manslaughter in the death of her 18-month-old daughter, Bailiegh Kay Suppes, in Ellsworth in 2010.
According to an Associated Press report, Suppes was sentenced to 32 months in prison after the child ingested morphine. Before her sentencing, Suppes entered a plea in which the defendant doesn’t admit guilt but understands the prosecution has exhibited enough evidence to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Riggin said giving out specific information about how Suppes died would be a breach of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) laws.
“My job is to protect the patient’s medical privacy first,” she said.
Frontier Forensics performed the autopsy on Suppes’ body in Kansas City, Kan., but wouldn’t release the cause and manner of her death because the autopsy report hadn’t been completed.
Calls placed this week to Mark Malick, the special agent in charge at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, about any investigation into Suppes’ death haven’t been returned.
Riggin said every case in which an inmate dies “is reviewed clinically without exception.”
During an interview in April about health care throughout the prison system, Riggin said there is a process of checks and balances to ensure inmates’ needs are met.
When issues arise, Riggin said, the department can be notified in several ways. Family members can go through the warden, and an inmate can notify the secretary of corrections.
Requests for any complaints or requests to see medical staff filed by Suppes were denied. Riggin and Adam Pfannenstiel, a KDOC spokesman, said HIPAA prevents the release of such information.
