Gail Wilson

Photograph of Gail Wilson, obtained from a GoFundMe organized by her daughter, London Edwards.

Gail Wilson was born on September 17, 1954, and sadly passed away at the age of 65 on May 11, 2020, after spending 45 days in a hospital fighting for her life against COVID-19. Gail is survived by her loving siblings, children, including her daughter London Edwards, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren. 

London bemoaned the frustration and heartache she experienced over the Michigan Department of Corrections’ (MDOC) lack of communication and transparency. Several months after her mother’s death, she recalled how difficult it was for her to get any information on Gail’s predicament and that her family wasn’t notified that Gail, who at the time of her death had been housed in a Michigan state prison, was ever hospitalized. 

Worried that she hadn’t heard from her mom, London spent weeks calling prison officials, hospitals, advocates, the corrections ombudsman, and even the governor’s office. By the time she found her mother, London said to the Detroit Free Press, Gail was on a ventilator. 

London recounted, “I just wish they would’ve treated her like a person first and not as an inmate… Just a person, because everybody has a man, good or bad. I just wish they wouldn’t have treated her as a number. I wish they would’ve had somewhat of a heart to communicate.” 

Photograph of Gail with her daughter London, courtesy of London, by way of Detroit Free Press.

From a GoFundMe raising funds for Gail’s funeral expenses, Champagne Smith wrote in support of Edwards, saying, “Praying for you Lo! I can’t imagine your pain, but I can empathize with you. Take as much time as you need to grieve, be vulnerable, be whatever you feel like being to learn to navigate through this thing! Love you." 

At the fourth highest rate of any state in the country, over one hundred incarcerated people in Michigan have died since the onset of this pandemic, and sadly, Gail Wilson was one of them. Gail will forever be loved and missed by many, and to her daughter London, she’ll be remembered and find peace knowing her mom was a fighter. 

We honor her life with reflection, recognizing her humanity as special and unique. Rest in Peace Gail. 

This memorial was written by MOL team member Delecia J. Riley with information from a GoFundMe organized by London Edwards and reporting by The Marshall Project and Angie Jackson of Detroit Free Press. Transcribed by Jack Denning.