Stan Li

Stan Xuhui Li was born in China on February 10, 1954. He died of COVID-19 at age 66 on April 26, 2020 while incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Institution in New York. Stan is survived by a 19-year-old daughter, who has spoken about the pain of witnessing his illness and death over phone and video calls. 

“Mr. Li was looking forward to taking college classes at either Bard or Nyack this year,” wrote his friend Patrick Austin in a letter to Mourning Our Losses. “He was a kind person who dedicated his time as well as energy to studying and helping others. He was a kind person, and he always looked to find something positive in people as well as situations.” 

Stan participated in the Network Program, which involves peer-to-peer emotional support and educational training. He also worked in Fishkill’s Law Library. Stan and his library coworker, Louis Leath, died of the coronavirus in the same month. 

Fishkill Correctional Institution drew the attention of state regulators for having the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases out of all New York prisons at the time of a July 2020 inspection. In response, the Correctional Association of New York stated, “There is no better public health policy solution than decreasing the number of people behind bars. Lives depend on it.” But rather than granting releases to prevent more deaths like Stan’s, the New York DOC continues to make dangerous decisions such as transferring medically-vulnerable and elderly people from Fishkill to Adirondack Correctional Facility without proper protocols — a move excoriated in a January 2021 class action lawsuit.

We mourn Stan’s loss.

This memorial was compiled by MOL team member Abby Steckel with submissions from Patrick Austin and information from an obituary by Memorial Properties and reporting by the Correctional Association of New York, Mary Murphy of PIX11, and Alice Speri of The Intercept.