From Guard to Wife: My Journey in the Shadows of the Justice System

  Let me tell you something right now — that viral 3-minute video Fox 10 Phoenix aired last week? That wasn’t the whole story. That was just the tip of the blood-soaked iceberg. As a former Arizona Department of Corrections Officer, I know exactly what you're looking at in that video. You’re seeing the tail end of a brutal, calculated beatdown that started long before the cameras started rolling. That inmate? He’d already been dragged, pummeled, and bled out — by the time he was being chased down the entire length of the prison yard like a damn scene out of a gladiator movie. Fox 10’s report referred to it as a fight that “spilled out into the prison yard.” SPILLED OUT? Like someone knocked over a soda. No — this wasn’t some spontaneous scuffle. That man was hunted . Let’s Break Down the Bullsh*t Donna Hamm’s Comment: “The inmates are running the asylum, and that's not what the taxpayers in Arizona are paying for.” Newsflash: the inmates have always run the yard. Th...

    I feel like I’ve been zapped into a million tiny pieces, floating midair, like that scene in Willy Wonka where the kid is scattered before he ends up inside the TV. That’s me. Mentally shattered. Emotionally pulverized. Everywhere I look, there’s pain. Injustice. Corruption. And people who either don’t see it—or worse—don’t care. The prison system is eating people alive. Men and women are dying behind those walls. Getting beaten. Getting broken. Getting silenced. And yet, you won’t see it on the nightly news. You won’t hear about it in the paper. The stories get buried, twisted, or ignored altogether. “Advocates” sit on the outside, preaching about policies and reform, acting like they know what really goes on. But unless you’ve sat in that visitation room, unless you’ve begged a warden for a call, unless you’ve gotten a call from someone who just witnessed a beating or a death, then you don’t know. My husband is trying to survive hell every single day. And I can onl...

  Some people are born into our lives. Others arrive like divine appointments—unexpected, unassuming, and yet, so powerfully necessary that you realize in hindsight, they were exactly what your soul had been crying out for . For me, that person is Grandma. Ryan’s grandmother, yes. But by grace, she’s also mine now. And I don’t say that lightly. Growing up, my grandfather was my moral compass, my teacher, my protector—my everything. He was the kind of man who didn’t just give advice, he embodied it. The kind of man who taught me that being kind didn’t mean being weak, and that standing up for yourself didn’t require stepping on others. When he died, it was like someone took the scaffolding out from under my soul. I’ve carried that void for years…until I met her. When he died, it felt like the light in my life dimmed. I wandered through grief with this gaping emptiness, not even realizing just how much I needed someone to fill that space—not to replace him, but to remind me of ...

  A Response to Tee’s Blog: “When God Sends an Angel” I don’t even know where to start — except to say that I’m sitting here, tears rolling down my face, trying to gather myself after reading Tee’s blog post about me: When God Sends an Angel: My Encounter with DeAnna Epperson Let me tell y’all something... this woman wrecked me (in the best way possible). Her words? They hit my soul like a tidal wave. Not just because she shared her pain so openly, but because she allowed me to see just how much our connection meant — and y’all, I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready to see myself through someone else’s eyes like that. I ugly cried . Like, tissue-in-each-hand, snotty-nose, makeup-running, full-on “don’t look at me” cry. Tee, how dare you?! 😂 But seriously — to know that God used me in such a powerful and specific way, in her darkest hour, is the kind of reminder that stops you in your tracks. I didn’t swoop in with a cape or some master plan — I just showed up, as myself, and gave w...

  When we think about suicide in prison, the image that comes to mind is often distorted—an inmate alone, hopeless, maybe battling addiction or mental illness, left behind by the world. But what if I told you that sometimes, it's not hopelessness that kills, but heartlessness? This is not just about suicide. This is about negligence. This is about cruelty dressed up as policy. This is about Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution, and what happened when “Operation Clean Sweep” left blood on its hands. The Insider’s Story A long-time inmate at Fort Dix reached out to Power of Our Voices LLC to share the unfiltered truth about what really happened in April 2025. Two suicides—one on the East Side, one on the West Side—both within a week of staff-led property raids and intimidation campaigns masked as cleanliness efforts. Let me make this painfully clear: this wasn’t about tidiness. This was psychological warfare. Inmate property was destroyed en masse—family photos, letters, ...

When a loved one is incarcerated, the world doesn’t stop—but it sure as hell shifts. Bills still come due. Kids still need dinner. And the ache in your chest? It doesn’t clock out at 5 p.m. That’s why Prison Stops Nothing isn’t just a name—it’s a damn declaration. The Mission that Hits Home PrisonStopsNothing.com is a movement born from the trenches. It’s built by someone who gets it —someone who’s lived the heartbreak, felt the isolation, and decided enough is enough . Their mission is rooted in one powerful truth: Families don’t stop loving, fighting, or surviving—just because their loved one is behind bars. From emotional support to real-time resources, Prison Stops Nothing is a boots-on-the-ground support system that helps families hold the line until their loved ones come home. What They Offer: More Than Hope— Help This isn’t fluff. This is action: Emotional Support – Because crying on your bathroom floor at midnight shouldn’t be the norm. You deserve someone who un...

In a disheartening revelation that underscores the vulnerabilities within our correctional institutions, a counselor at Arizona's Lewis Prison, Berman Comon, was arrested on January 3, 2025. Comon, holding the position of Correctional Officer III (COIII), was charged with smuggling drugs and contraband cellphones into the Rast Unit of the prison . ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix (KNXV) The role of a COIII is distinct from that of a standard correctional officer, primarily focusing on counseling and program advising for inmates. This position inherently provides greater access to inmates, a trust that Comon allegedly exploited for personal gain. Reports indicate he received $5,000 per trip to introduce drugs into the facility, cleverly concealing them inside large styrofoam cups and an ice machine to bypass security measures. ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix (KNXV) The operation was not limited to Comon alone. Three inmates were reportedly involved in packaging the drugs within Comon's o...

Let me tell you what it’s like to go to war—not with guns or bombs, but with phone calls, legal documents, and a heart that refuses to give up. I’m not just fighting for my husband—I’m fighting against an entire prison system built to wear people down until they give up. But I won’t. I haven’t. And I never will. My husband is incarcerated in Arizona Department of Corrections. And what started out as a mission to simply advocate for his safety has turned into a full-scale, nonstop battle with a system so corrupt, so broken, and so indifferent to human life that some days, I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. Where do I begin? Maybe with the time he was brutally attacked by another inmate and had to go into protective custody. Or when they transferred him from Red Rock to La Palma without notice, like a pawn on a chessboard. Or the multiple times his PC requests were denied, despite evidence of credible threats—and then used against him to accuse him of making false allegations. The...