Wednesday, December 20, 2023

By Josh McGhee

Good Morning MindSiters,

Today, we bring you a very special Diagnosis: Injustice featuring our inside-outside collaboration with the Prison Journalism Project and The Guardian. The two-part story examines the death of a man held in solitary confinement at New Jersey State Prison.

We are thrilled to say that both parts were co-published today by the Guardian and MindSite News.

Earlier this year, Kory McClary, an incarcerated writer for Prison Journalism Project, submitted a reported essay about listening to the man above him in the “crazy unit” descend into mental distress – and not long thereafter, to die.

PJP shared the story with MindSite News, and I began investigating the man’s death. For months, I was unable to find any information beyond his name – Edward Robinson – and his autopsy report. Then I stumbled upon an attorney who had represented him years earlier and was able to point me toward family and friends who were still in contact with him. 

From there, I was able to document the last days of Edward Robinson, a story directly at the nexus of criminal justice and mental health – my mission here at MindSite News.

In his essay, McClary recounts moving into a new cell. Above him are the three cells that make up the mental health unit, known in the prison as “the crazy unit.”  

McClary’s move fed his concerns about the state of mental healthcare inside New Jersey State Prison. First, he began hearing loud banging noises from his upstairs neighbor during a football game. “It was so loud that I couldn’t hear the commentators on my 13-inch flat-screen TV,” McClary wrote.

Banging is common in prisons, but it started to get to McClary. And as it continued for hours and days on end, he began worrying about the man behind the noises. Then one day, officers rushed the man’s cell and McClary heard screaming so loud he thought someone was being murdered. 

The man was then moved to a different cell and McClary wondered what happened to him. A few days later, he died. 

Last weekend – December 16 – marked the one-year anniversary of his death.

Part 2

McClary’s story was haunting – and we believed that this man deserved to be more than an anonymous victim. So we set out to learn his name and tell his story. Here’s what we learned.

His name was Edward Robinson, and he was known to his family as Little Eddie.

He grew up fast in a public housing project in Paterson, New Jersey. While he was no saint, he was a deep thinker and talented writer. He was also deeply loyal to his friends and family, according to his longtime girlfriend, Shawana Gatlin.

Little Eddie also had a street code, Gatlin said: “I’m not going to rob older women, we’re not going to rob men or people who work hard for their money. I’m going to rob [the dealers] because they take from other people.” That, she said, was how he rationalized what he was doing.

Gatlin moved away to college in Baltimore, but Paterson beckoned Robinson back. Eventually, he shot a man in a dispute and was sentenced to life. Gatlin spent hours driving back and forth to see him in jail and prison. Weeks turned to months and months turned to years. They worked on business ideas and books to publish. 

She was devastated last year when she learned Little Eddie was dead.

There’s a lot more to Little Eddie’s story, and you can read it here. 

And now, a personal plea: The work we are doing takes time and money. MindSite News is a nonprofit news outlet and we can only continue with your support. Please give what you can to support MindSite News and help us keep doing unique investigations like this one.

Happy Holidays,

Josh McGhee

If you or someone you know is in crisis or experiencing suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and connect in English or Spanish. If you’re a veteran press 1. If you’re deaf or hard of hearing dial 711, then 988. Services are free and available 24/7.