Authorities investigate after female inmate, 36, dies at Topeka Correctional Facility
The death of a 36-year-old female inmate at Topeka Correctional Facility is being investigated by the Kansas Department of Corrections and Kansas Department of Investigation.
The inmate, Asa Hashanna Adams, was pronounced deceased after being found unresponsive Saturday morning in her living unit, said David Thompson, public information officer for the Kansas Department of Corrections.
An autopsy was being conducted to determine Adams' cause of death, he said.
Adams had been a Topeka Correctional Facility inmate since September 2008. She was serving time for first-degree murder in the commission of a felony in the May 2007 Sedgwick County child abuse death of her 1-year-old daughter, Shymire.
Police were called May 16, 2007, to Adams' apartment, where they found her daughter had suffered head trauma and severe burns to her lower legs and feet from a hot bath, officials said. The girl died eight days later.
Adams appealed her conviction in the case to the Kansas Supreme Court, which ruled against her in April 2011.
Why is the KBI involved?
It is standard protocol for the deaths in custody of Kansas prison inmates to be investigated by both the corrections department and the KBI, Thompson said.
Topeka Correctional Facility is located at 815 S.E. Rice Road. It houses only female inmates and has a capacity of 932 residents.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Asa Adams, female inmate at Topeka Correctional Facility, dies at 36
