Colony Nicole Wilson

Photograph of Colony, obtained from Birmingham Obituaries.

On May 11th, Colony Nicole Wilson passed away at the age of 41. From Birmingham, Alabama, Colony was raised by Sylvester Wilson and his mother while her mother served in the military. She is survived by various family members, including her uncle, who describes Colony’s death as “heartbreaking” in an interview with the Alabama Political Reporter. She was a kind soul who brightened everyone’s day.

When Colony collapsed at the Birmingham Women’s Community Based Facility and Community Work Center, staff members did not offer to help her. On seeing her fall, one woman reported wanting to help her but was not allowed to due to orders from correctional officers not to touch her. Though she exhibited shortness of breath and other COVID-19 symptoms, according to other women she lived with, she was not tested for COVID-19. Colony was taken to a medical clinic before being hospitalized at St. Vincent’s Hospital, where she passed away. 

The prison claimed her cause of death was a blood clot in her lung, a diagnosis that “didn’t sit well with me,” her uncle Sylvester Wilson told The New York Times. The lack of closure and transparency made the tragic and premature end to Colony’s life even more difficult.

She will be deeply missed by everyone who knew her. 

This memorial was written by MOL team member Claire Lee with information from reporting by Eddie Burkhalter of Alabama Political Reporter and The New York Times and Carol Robinson of Birmingham Real-Time News.