Matched for Death

by Mari / PNN Youth in the Media intern

Every night while I am sleeping someone comes to check and see if I am in my room. This happens about three or four times per night. I live in a transitional living program for houseless youth between the ages of 18 and 23, and every night between the hours of 12 a.m. – 6 p.m. my room gets checked several times. My transitional living program is a place that helps houseless youth get back on their feet so that they won't ever become houseless again. They teach us money management skills, life skills, how to type a housing resume, how to get a credit report, and many other skills that will help us transition into adulthood. No one who lives there is violent. The reason why I know this is because if someone was even a slight threat to someone else who lived there they would get kicked out that day.

My own supervised "housing" situation rushed through my mind when Tiny, co-editor at POOR Magazine, told me the story of a youth named Gary Avila. Within one month of turning 18, Avila pleaded guilty to being a "gang member" in possession of a gun, and although this is a really low classified crime he was sentenced to two years in a state prison. After his first night in Wasco State Prison, he was found dead the next morning, with a bloody bed sheet looped around his neck.

His cellmate, Paul Posada, allegedly confessed to causing the death of Avila. Based on a cursory review of Posada and Avila's records, prison officials decided that Posada and Avila were a good match as cellmates. If prison officials did a background check they would have seen the confidential prison documents, interviews, court records, and medical records showing that Posada might be a threat and should be in cell by himself. Prison officials might have violated California state prison policies by placing Avila in Posada’s cell.

"This happens too often around the country...this is not productive for society," said Fela Thomas from the Youth Force Coalition, whom I contacted to get an expert opinion on this case. Thomas said this case "is just basically another manifestation of the criminal justice system not rehabilitating, but just locking people up. "

I asked Thomas to relate the upcoming Proposition 21 California Supreme Court’s decision, to this case. This decision could overturn Prop 21 ( a proposition that allows youth to be tried as adults) because it has more than one provision, or the court could decide that just one part of Prop 21, the section that allows youth to be tried as adults should be taken out, or the California Supreme Court could just decide to leave Prop 21 the way it is.

Bay area youth organizers went to the Prop 21 hearing in Los Angeles, on December 5, 2001. One of the lawyers there had stated that 25 percent of Prop 21 targets adults. He stated that a certain part of Prop 21 was written about sex offenders. This is interesting considering most sex offenders are adults, while their victims are usually youth. Another lawyer stated that in California the juvenile justice system used to be for youth 21 and under.

Avila committed a low-level crime. He should have not been sent to prison. He could have been put on house arrest, probation, or something else. When I was in high school, you had to be down with a gang, clique, or you would have no protection. I myself had friends who were in a gang, but never did gang bang. Some people don't realize that in some communities you do what you gotta do to survive, or you might not even know a different way to escape your situation. Sometimes when someone is part of a gang there are certain things they do to be recognized as being a part of that gang. Avila had friends who were in gangs, but he was not part of any gangs.

I wonder how this youth could die on his first night in jail? He was only 18 years old. He was only three years younger than I. How could there be no prison officials making their rounds to make sure that everything was alright. This young man was found dead the next day. Why weren't the prison officials doing their job? Why is MY room checked 3 or 4 times a night? Why was Avila's cell not checked?