Woman killed during conjugal visit with mass murderer in prison after Bible sessions & pushing him to be ‘better person’
A WOMAN was killed during a conjugal visit with her mass murderer husband after pushing him to be a “better person.”
Stephanie Dowells, 62, was killed while visiting her husband, David Brinson, 54, in Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California—about an hour’s drive southeast of Sacramento—in November 2024, authorities revealed this week.
In the early morning hours of November 13, Brinson used a phone in the conjugal visit facility where the couple was staying to tell officers that his wife passed out, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Despite the officers’ live-saving efforts, Dowells died about an hour later.
The Amador County Coroner said that Dowells was strangled to death, per local NBC affiliate KCRA.
Dowells’ daughter-in-law, Nataly Jimenez, told the outlet of Dowells and Brinson: “They would read the Bible together. He was in school in there because she was pushing him to try to be this better person.”
Armand Torres, one of Dowells’ two sons, thinks the prison should be held accountable for his mother’s death.
“How could they just let this happen? I just don’t get it,” he said.
A conjugal visit at the prison is described as a visit “in private, apartment-like facilities on prison grounds.”
The visits can last about 30 to 40 hours, according to California’s prison system.
Torres asked: “Given the history that this guy has, we kind of wanted to know how is it even possible for them to be unsupervised?”
Brinson is currently serving four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
He was sentenced in 1994 after being convicted of fatally shooting four men.
The “execution-style murders,” as the Los Angeles Times put it at the time, were committed during a robbery at one of the victims’ garage apartments in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told KCRA that visits like the one Dowells went on “are a privilege, and Incarcerated persons must apply and meet strict eligibility criteria to be approved.”
“Only those who demonstrate sustained good behavior and meet specific program requirements are considered,” the prison system added.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for comment.
‘A BEACON OF STRENGTH AND LOVE’
In a GoFundMe post asking for donations to pay for expenses for her body’s return home and its burial, Dowells, who was referred lovingly to as Stevi D., was described as “a beacon of strength and love and the cornerstone of her family and community.”
Dowells was a hairstylist and small business owner based in Los Angeles.
She was the primary provider for her sons, her elderly parents and her eight grandchildren.
“Stevi’s sudden departure has left a void deeply felt by her family and community alike,” the GoFundMe wrote.
She was described as “a faithful woman of God” who “dedicated her life to uplifting others through her unwavering faith, boundless optimism, and the deep connections she fostered.”