A WOMAN was killed during a conjugal visit with her mass murderer husband after Bible lessons and pushing him to be a “better person.”
Stephanie Dowells, 62, met a tragic fate while visiting her husband, David Brinson, 54, at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California, located about an hour’s drive southeast of Sacramento in November 2024, as per authorities’ recent disclosure.
In the early hours of November 13, Brinson contacted officers using a phone in the designated conjugal visit area, where the couple was lodged, to report that his wife had collapsed, stated the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Despite the officers’ live-saving efforts, Dowells died about an hour later.
The Amador County Coroner said that Dowells was strangled to death, per local NBC affiliate KCRA.
Dowells’ daughter-in-law, Nataly Jimenez, shared with the media about Dowells and Brinson’s relationship, mentioning, “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, thinks the prison should be held accountable for his mother’s death.
“How could they just let this happen? I just don’t get it,” he said.
A conjugal visit at the prison 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 about 30 to 40 hours, according to the prison system.
“My mom was just left alone, and she called for help, I’m sure, and there’s nothing she could do,” Torres said.
The distraught son asked: “Given the history that this guy has, we kind of wanted to know how is it even possible for them to be unsupervised?”
Brinson is currently serving four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
He was sentenced in 1994 after being convicted of fatally shooting four men.
The “execution-style murders,” as the Los Angeles Times put it in a 1994 article, were committed during a robbery at one of the victims’ garage apartments in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 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 prison system added.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for comment.
The prison system said Dowells’ death “remains under investigation.”
Prosecutors have yet to file charges against Brinson in connection to Dowells’ death.
Brinson is now at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, a state prison for people with long-term medical or acute mental health needs that is about a 46-minute drive southwest of Ione, per the Los Angeles Times.
Who is murderer David Brinson?
David Brinson, 54, was sentenced to life in prison in the ’90s for multiple killings.
In June 1990, Brinson fatally shot retired tavern owner Robert Marks, 59, and three other men in a robbery in Marks’ garage apartment in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles.
He was convicted of the murders in October 1993.
At the age of 23, Brinson was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole in February 1994.
‘A BEACON OF STRENGTH AND LOVE’
In a GoFundMe post asking for donations to pay for expenses for her body’s return home and its burial, Dowells, who was referred lovingly to as Stevi D., was described as “a beacon of strength and love and the cornerstone of her family and community.”
Dowells was a hairstylist and small business owner based in Los Angeles.
She was the primary provider for her sons, her elderly parents and her eight grandchildren.
“Stevi’s sudden departure has left a void deeply felt by her family and community alike,” the GoFundMe read.
She was described as “a faithful woman of God” who “dedicated her life to uplifting others through her unwavering faith, boundless optimism, and the deep connections she fostered.”
