Nurse charged in Waupun prison death pleads not guilty after failing to get case dismissed

JUNEAU – A former registered nurse at Waupun Correctional Institution pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of abuse of residents of a penal facilities following the death of Donald Maier, a 62-year-old prisoner.

Jessica Ann Hosfelt, 47, is one of seven prison staff — including the former warden — facing criminal charges for Maier's death. Hosfelt is charged with a Class I felony.

Investigators say Hosfelt did not properly follow protocol after she was notified that Maier had not been eating for days and was drinking out of the toilet in his cell.

Maier was found dead in his cell two days later. The Dodge County medical examiner ruled he died of malnutrition and probable dehydration and determined his death was a homicide.

At Hosfelt's preliminary hearing Thursday, Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries bound her over for trial and then proceeded to arraignment, where she entered a plea of not guilty.

Prison staff did not document Maier's missed meals and intermittent water access

Dodge County Sheriff's Office Detective Kasey Young testified on Thursday about what he and other detectives learned in the investigation into Maier's death.

Young said Maier was moved from a cell in the behavioral health unit to a cell in the restrictive housing unit overnight between Feb. 13 and 14. Maier was placed in an observation cell, which has 24/7 surveillance cameras, because he "made some comments of self harm," Young said.

While under observation, prisoners are not only on camera at all hours, but are also only given limited items in their cell, as well as special clothing and a special blanket, in order to reduce the risk of suicide.

In the approximately nine days from the time Maier was moved to the restrictive housing unit cell to his death, he never left the cell, and no one ever entered the cell, Young testified.

Maier had known mental health issues, for which he had an assigned psychologist, Young testified. The criminal complaint states Maier was known among staff as "not being able to ... effectively communicate his needs" and rarely spoke to other prisoners.

The last time surveillance video showed that Maier had an empty meal tray outside his cell, indicating he had eaten the meal on it, was Feb. 17, Young said, five days before his death. There was evidence Maier did not eat anything after that point, Young said.

Between Feb. 18 and 21, no staff member served Maier breakfast or lunch, and on at least one of those days, Maier never received dinner — so at one point, no one served Maier anything for five meals in a row, Young said.

The criminal complaint states that if a prisoner misses three meals in a day or if they tell staff they are on a hunger strike, a nurse is supposed to conduct a "baseline assessment" on that prisoner, measuring their vitals and taking their height and weight. No such assessment was conducted on Maier.

Young said Waupun Correctional Institution's protocol for hunger strikes is to make a written documentation of when the prisoner has eaten. No such documentation was ever created for Maier.

Additionally, prison staff turned Maier's water off and on about a week before his death to prevent Maier from leaving it running and flooding his cell.

Young testified investigators were unable to create a definite timeline of when Maier had access to running water. Staff did not keep documentation of Maier's water access, and the water company did not keep track of historical data, he said. Young said body cameras were not required to be worn in the "bubble," a central area of the prison's restrictive housing unit where officers could turn cell water on and off.

Staff found Maier dead around 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22. The doctor who conducted the autopsy estimated Maier had died in the early morning hours of that day.

Investigators say nurse failed to follow prison procedure after learning Maier missed meals

Correctional Officer Jamall Russell was the primary officer in charge of delivering meals to Maier, Young testified. He reviewed footage from Russell's body camera through Feb. 19 to 22.

On Feb. 20, in front of a cell near Maier's, Russell spoke to Hosfelt. Young said body camera captured Russell asking Hosfelt what she knew about Maier, and telling the nurse Maier had not eaten in days and was drinking from the toilet. Hosfelt responded she was not familiar with Maier. She then walked away without looking into Maier's cell, Young testified.

Hosfelt returned to Maier's cell about 5½ hours later, around 4:30 p.m., after a correctional lieutenant asked her to do a welfare check on Maier because an officer believed they saw Maier having a seizure.

According to the criminal complaint, Hosfelt told investigators she saw Maier sitting on the floor without clothes on and rocking back and forth while mumbling to himself. She said Maier did not respond to her when she tried to speak with him, but he did look toward another prisoner who called his name from a neighboring cell and responded, saying something she was unable to make out, the complaint says.

Although she did not enter the cell, Hosfelt determined Maier was "alert and responsive" and not having a seizure or medical emergency, the complaint says.

Young testified that for the entire welfare check, Hosfelt stood outside Maier's cell for no more than two minutes.

She wrote a report, but it said nothing about Maier's eating or drinking, Young said.

After Maier's death, Hosfelt told a detective that security staff ultimately determine when to physically go into a cell to check on a prisoner's well-being. However, multiple security staff told investigators they rely on health staff to tell them when a situation arises to the need of entering a cell for a medical reason, Young testified.

Hosfelt's attorney argues she was not aware of the extent of the situation

When it was his turn to cross-examine Young, defense attorney Daniel Kaminsky raised several points.

For one, he said, the responsibility of delivering meals falls to security staff, not health staff. Additionally, no one informed Hosfelt of any particular time when Maier's water had been shut off, or of the exact length of time he had gone without eating.

Waupun Correctional Institution's policy for meals indicates that if a prisoner does not eat for 72 hours, it should be considered an "emergency hunger strike," but if they don't eat for less than 72 hours, it's a non-urgent issue, Kaminsky said.

Kaminsky asked Young if the detective knew what was required by protocol for a nurse's welfare check in a prison — to which Young answered he did not.

Additionally, other security staff and medical staff visited Maier's cell between the time Hosfelt checked on him Feb. 20 and when he was found dead Feb. 22. Other medical staff similarly only did a visual medical check on Maier without entering his cell.

Kaminsky argued none of the evidence against Hosfelt suggests she neglected Maier in a way that rose to the level of a felony charge.

Still, Judge De Vries ruled that the evidence met the requirement of a preliminary hearing and ordered that the case against Hosfelt will move forward.

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Court proceedings continue for other former prison staff

In addition to the seven former Waupun Correctional Institution staff charged in connection with Maier's death, three staff members face charges for the Oct. 30 death of another prisoner, Cameron Williams, who died of a rare stroke after other prisoners say his calls for help were ignored.

Maier and Williams are two of four deaths at the prison in eight months. Dean Hoffman, 60, died by suicide in June 2023. Records show staff missed providing him his bipolar and antidepressant medications in the months before his death. Then on Oct. 2, 30-year-old Tyshun Lemons died of a fentanyl overdose.

All four deaths happened amid a lockdown at Waupun Correctional Institution — or what the Wisconsin Department of Corrections calls "modified movement" — as a result of understaffing, as well as a federal investigation into a suspected drug and cellphone smuggling ring by prison staff.

Besides Hosfelt and Russell, other former staff facing charges for Maier's death include warden Randall Hepp, Correctional Lt. Brandon Fisher, Correctional Sgts. Jeramie Chalker and Alexander Hollfelder, and Correctional Officer Sarah Anne Margaret Ransbottom.

Charged in Williams' death are Fisher, as well as Sgt. Tanner Leopold and registered nurse Gwendolyn Peachey Vick.

Hosfelt and Vick are the only staff members to have had preliminary hearings so far. Chalker's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5. All other staff have waived their preliminary hearings, according to court records.

Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Nurse charged in Waupun prison death pleads not guilty