Melissa Ann Horn
Melissa Ann Horn (right) and her daughter, Brittany Brown, courtesy of the Brown family.
Melissa Ann Horn’s daughter, Brittany Brown, said her mother loved her family and, above all, just wanted to be happy. From Tazewell County originally, Melissa Ann was serving time at the Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland when she contracted COVID-19. She was only 49 years old.
On April 4, 2020, Melissa Ann was taken to the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond. Tested and diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly thereafter, she was admitted to the hospital. Melissa Ann was treated for 10 days before passing away on the morning of Tuesday, April 14, 2020.
Melissa Ann was the first incarcerated person to die from COVID-19 in Virginia. A Virginia Department of Corrections spokesperson told a local news source that the agency was following CDC guidelines. University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute researchers have credited one of those guidelines – social distancing – with stalling COVID infection rates in the freeworld. But living conditions make social distancing in prison nearly impossible, leaving those incarcerated particularly vulnerable. This is why the ACLU of Virginia and other groups have argued for the release of more people in state custody. Unfortunately, any such responsive action will come too late to save Melissa Ann.
Like other state prison agencies, the Virginia Department of Corrections failed to release Melissa Ann’s name when it mentioned her passing, citing “medical confidentiality” and “the family’s privacy” as the reasons for failing to do so. But the department wasted no time in mentioning pre-existing health conditions and criminal charges, as if either had anything to do with the failure to protect Melissa Ann while in its care. Her daughter, Brittany, reiterated this by explaining to The Marshall Project, “I got three copies of her death certificate. It doesn’t say hepatitis C on it, it says coronavirus.”
We mourn the loss of Melissa Ann Horn.
This memorial was written by MOL team member Luci Harrell based upon reporting by Cary Aspinwall, Keri Blakinger, and Joseph Neff of the Marshall Project, Matthew Barakat of NBC Washington, Jeff Williamson from WSLS 10, and Scott Wise from WTVR Richmond.
