A 62-year-old woman was strangled by her mass murderer husband after a Bible lesson during a prison conjugal visit.
Stephanie Dowells died while visiting her husband, David Brinson, 54, in Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California.
In the early morning hours of November 13, 2024, Brinson called officers on the phone and said that his wife had passed out.
Officers rushed to the conjugal visit facility and found Dowells unresponsive. Despite the officers’ resuscitation efforts, Dowells was pronounced dead about an hour later.
Four months after Dowells was killed, the coroner’s office confirmed she died by strangulation, according to KCRA.
After Dowells’ death, Brinson was transferred to the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, a state prison for people with long-term medical or acute mental health needs.
Dowells was a hairstylist and a small business owner in Los Angeles.
She was the primary financial provider for her sons, her elderly parents and her eight grandchildren, according to The US Sun.
A GoFundMe page raised over $16,000 for her family.
Family members said Dowells visited her husband in prison to minister to him and to push him to be a better person.
Dowells’ daughter-in-law, Nataly Jimenez, told local NBC affiliate KCRA, “They would read the Bible together. He was in school in there because she was pushing him to try to be this better person.”
Armand Torres, one of Dowells’ two sons, blamed the prison system for his mother’s death.
“How could they just let this happen? I just don’t get it,” he said.
“My mom was just left alone, and she called for help, I’m sure, and there’s nothing she could do,” Torres said.
“Given the history that this guy has, we kind of wanted to know how is it even possible for them to be unsupervised?” he added.
In June 1990, David Brinson fatally shot four men during a robbery in an apartment in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles. He was convicted of the murders in October 1993.
Brinson, then 23, was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole in February 1994.
A conjugal visit is described as a visit “in private, apartment-like facilities on prison grounds,” by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The visits can last 30-40 hours, according to the CDCR. A spokesperson told KCRA that conjugal visits “are a privilege, and incarcerated persons must apply and meet strict eligibility criteria to be approved.”
“Only those who demonstrate sustained good behavior and meet specific program requirements are considered,” the spokesperson added.
The prosecutor is awaiting a coroner’s final report before charging Brinson with Dowells’ murder.
