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'I Don't Want To Die In Here' Says Woman Jailed Since Age 16

YPSILANTI (CBS DETROIT) - Some shows glamorize prison life but the reality is harsh, especially if you are young and placed in solitary confinement.

A woman we call Jane Doe, due to pending litigation, went to prison after being convicted of shooting her boyfriend when she was 16.

WWJ Newsradio 950's Brooke Allen met with Jane Doe and her attorney at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti in May.

"We were trying to arrange a phone interview when her attorney called to tell us she had been placed in solitary confinement," reports Allen.

A letter was received last month from Jane Doe explaining what happened.

Click here to read the letter (.pdf format)

"I've been going through a lot but I've been staying strong, so a while back an older lady was saying she wanted to kill me, was going to, but then had another time planned - then when I got out of my visit with you all things were even harder - she would walk around calling me names and putting it on her only son's life that she was going to take mine. I don't want to die here."

According to her attorney, Jane Doe has been in solitary confinement since May 12.

In Monday's story it was reported that a class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of juvenile prisoners against the Michigan Department of Corrections, alleging rape and other abuses.

Ann Arbor attorney Deborah Labelle, who is part of the team representing the John Does, said there is more than just one element to the case.

"This case is about what happens to youth when you do put them in an adult prison. The sexual abuse and assaults by adult prisoners and staff, the Tasering, shackling and placing them in excessive solitary confinement." she said.

LaBelle is the Director of the Juvenile Life Without Parole Initiative for the ACLU of Michigan and Coordinator of Michigan's Juvenile Mitigation Access Committee.

This week WWJ Newsradio 950 reporter Brooke Allen takes a look at juvenile offenders placed into the adult prison system.

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