Priscilla Slater
Photograph of Priscilla Slater, obtained from a campaign organized by Teferi Brent, obtained from Organize For.
Funny, smart, and resilient, Priscilla Slater was a lively presence in her family. She played elaborate pranks, and she loved to dance and crack jokes. Priscilla was the one to jump in the pool with her nieces and nephews when their parents couldn’t, and she would get down on the floor to play with the family’s babies. She was incredibly close with her sister, LaTasha Slater, who loved Priscilla more than almost anyone else on earth.
Priscilla lived in Harper Woods, Michigan. She was born on September 4, 1982 and died on June 10, 2020 at the tender age of 37.
Priscilla’s life was tragically cut short due to the neglect of the staff at the Harper Woods Jail. Although officials have offered differing and murky explanations of her death, it is clear that Priscilla did not receive the medical care she needed. Despite not reaching a definite conclusion about the cause of Priscilla’s death, a Wayne County Medical Examiner’s report speculated that her death was caused by an irregular heartbeat due to abnormally angled coronary arteries. This theory was based on video footage of Pricilla’s cell that appeared to show her having a seizure at about 5:10 am, more than seven hours before her body was discovered.
Her sister, LaTasha, rejected this idea in favor of a different medical examiner’s report. Upon reviewing the autopsy report, Oakland County Chief Medical Examiner Ljubisa Dragovic called the Wayne County examiner’s theory “nonsense,” stating that her seizure was not consistent with the heart condition that supposedly caused her death. In an interview, Dr. Dragovic said he believed that she died from alcohol withdrawal. LaTasha said to the Detroit Free Press that this second theory was much more plausible and “makes more sense to me than anything I’ve heard about the whole situation.”
Geoffrey Fieger, the Slater family’s attorney, spoke to Fox 2 Detroit about Priscilla’s death. “The indifference to Black lives by the powers that be is astounding,” he said. Outraged and devastated by Priscilla’s death, protesters took to the streets, demanding that her name be said aloud. Activists marched, seeking justice. LaTasha wants people to know that Priscilla was loved, and that she matters.
Photograph of demonstrators marching on July 15, 2020 by Rodney Coleman-Robinson of the Detroit Free Press.
Nine months after losing her sister, LaTasha lost her home to an electrical fire. Most of her possessions were destroyed, but she said to CBS Detroit, “My sister’s ashes, they survived. Everything is gone in there. Her ashes made it. So she’s telling me to hold on. She’s still with me.”
Photograph of Priscilla Slater (right) and her sister, LaTasha, courtesy of the Slater family, obtained from the Detroit Free Press.
This memorial was written by MOL team member Kira Grossfield with information from an obituary from the Butler Funeral Home, reporting by Nancy Kaffer of the Detroit Free Press, Fox 2 Detroit, and Cryss Walker of CBS Detroit.
To help LaTasha rebuild after losing her home and her dear sister, please consider donating to this GoFundMe.