Michael "Lilith" Marcotte — identified in VADOC records as Michael Hailey — died at Red Onion State Prison on November 26, 2025 after staff used brutal force against her and then left her for hours in medical without basic care. Virginia’s Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by asphyxia due to chest compression.

Before staff took Lilith to medical, they shot her with impact rounds, pepper-sprayed her, used a Taser, and Unit Manager Larry Collins sat on her chest. In medical, staff kept her in five-point restraints for over eight hours, denied her water and other basic needs, and ignored repeated complaints that she could not breathe.

Virginia later paid $2.7 million to settle the wrongful-death case. The settlement ended the civil claims but did not decide criminal responsibility.

The charging decision should not remain with local prosecutors whose office overlaps closely with the prison workforce they must investigate. Wise County already acknowledged that problem after Aubrey McKay died by homicide at Wallens Ridge, when its Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office stepped aside and explained that in rural Wise County, “everybody knows everyone.”

Lilith deserves the same conflict standard.

We demand that Wise County recuse and that Governor Abigail Spanberger direct the Attorney General to conduct an independent criminal investigation and charging review of Lilith’s homicide.