Woman’s death from COVID-19 at Fort Worth prison sparks fear of virus resurgence
A woman incarcerated at a federal prison in Fort Worth died Thursday after contracting COVID-19, the Bureau of Prisons said in a press release.
Tammy Lamere, 50, tested positive for COVID-19 at Federal Medical Center Carswell on Sept. 20, the BOP said. On Sept. 27, she was taken to the hospital due to complications related to coronavirus. As her condition worsened, Lamere, who had diabetes and other medical conditions, was put on a ventilator on Sept. 29. She died on Sept. 30.
Lamere was serving a 30-year sentence after she was convicted in New York for sexual exploitation of a child in 2018.
Lamere is the eighth woman to die from COVID-19 at the prison, according to BOP data. According to the BOP, 14 women in the prison currently have confirmed cases of the virus. The prison is the only federal medical facility for incarcerated women in the country. Carswell, and 91 other BOP facilities, were under lockdown due to COVID-19 as of Oct. 4.
Windy Panzo, another women incarcerated at the prison, said the hospital unit at Carswell is “infected with COVID.”
“We are all scared and worried that this is not under control and we are being taken one at a time,” Panzo wrote via email. “We are in trouble here in Carswell ... the most vulnerable .... and we are dying.”
Faith Blake and her mother are both incarcerated at Carswell. On Monday, Blake learned that her mother, who is housed in the hospital unit at the prison with serious medical conditions, tested positive for COVID-19. Blake is afraid her mother will die from COVID-19 complications.
“In the world, any human sick as she is and with all her medical issues would be hospitalized and supported and cared for,” Blake wrote in an email. “Here they live or don’t. But one thing is promised, you will suffer and be alone.”
According to the BOP’s COVID-19 response plan, which is outlined on its website, the BOP “is committed to protecting the health and welfare of those individuals entrusted to our care, as well as our staff, their families, and the communities where we live and work.”
Out of the 1,392 women incarcerated at Carswell, 1,380 have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to date on the BOP’s website.
In October 2020, Lamere requested compassionate release from prison because of her serious medical conditions and the spread of the virus in the prison. In a court document filed on Oct. 9, 2020, she wrote that she had to have several toes amputated due to medical complications at Carswell. In the document, she said she was not given the correct insulin dosage and developed an infection in her toes. Medical staff said the infection was caused by gout, according to Lamere’s petition, but the infection worsened.
“I’m really scared to have all these and not be able to have family with me,” she wrote in the petition. “So I’m writing to say I’m very sorry for doing wrong in the past. I’m asking you for forgiveness and start a new life with getting my health under control and be with my family again.”
Her request for compassionate release was denied on Oct. 20, 2020.
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 2:09 PM.
