Efrem Stutson
Family photograph of Efrem, obtained from the Santa Barbara Independent.
Efrem Stutson was finally coming home. He was excited to build a new life in California, to start a job, and to see his children. But when he stepped off the bus from Lompoc federal prison and was greeted by his sister Laura Harris-Gidd, she could see that he was seriously ill. “He was so out of it,” she said to the Santa Barbara Independent, “He could hardly hold his head up.”
Hours later, Efrem was hospitalized and diagnosed with COVID-19. He left this world on April 6, 2020. He was 60 years old.
Efrem’s sister Lawanda Rangel remembers her brother as a “loving, affectionate and a caring type of person. Whoever he was around, he wanted the best for that person” in an interview with journalist Janene Scully of Noozhawk. Even as a kid, he was kind. She remembers picking out bikes with her brother as kids---he wanted her to have the best one.
Efrem had requested a transfer to Lompoc six months earlier, to be closer to his family and his intended home. In his six months at the facility, he worked in the kitchens and kept in touch with Lawanda. In their last phone call a week before his release, she recalls that Efrem “sounded happy.”
Lawanda was looking forward to getting to know Efrem again on the outside. Sadly, she would not have the chance. The morning after his homecoming, at the urging of his family, Efrem entered the Kaiser Permanente medical center in Fontana. No visitors were permitted, due to the pandemic. He died before Lawanda and many of his other relatives could see him.
She remains shocked that Lompoc released her brother in that condition. “You know that doesn’t happen overnight...Why did they send him on that bus like that?”
Shortly after Efrem’s death, Lompoc would report the worst coronavirus outbreak in any federal prison, with a rate of infection so high that authorities began building a field hospital inside to avoid overwhelming local hospitals. Already understaffed, with close to a third of medical positions unfilled, Lompoc has now attracted the concerned attention of local and national politicians as a potential super spreader of the virus.
Laura reflected on the sudden end of her brother’s life. He deserved better, she said.
“You spend so much time incarcerated, so many days taken from you…
“He never got the chance to experience the goodness of life in his children and grandchildren. He didn’t even get to enjoy a decent meal.”
This memorial was written by MOL team member Kirsten Pickering, from reporting by Tyler Hayden of the Santa Barbara Independent, Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times, and Janene Scully of Noozhawk.