© 2024 WYSO
Our Community. Our Nation. Our World.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Living On Lockdown In An Ohio Women's Prison

Women's Voices dayton correctional institution
Juliet Fromholt
/
WYSO

Melody Williams is serving life without parole. Because of the severity of her crime she was sent to a supermax/maximum security facility, and spent the first year and a half of her sentence in lock-down.

In this audio story, Melody talks to fellow Dayton Correctional Institution resident Shannon Evans about coming to prison and how she coped with being locked up for 21 hours a day.

Highlights from the audio:

“I remember going into the security housing unit and they assigned me and another young lady who was half my age, she was 25...and they told us to go in there, and we went in, and they closed the door and they told us we would not come back out until the next day.”

“I gained 50 pounds sitting on the side of the bed. Our only guilty pleasure was food. So we ate.”

“I wanted to go outside. They have a big walk/jog and you can see it from your cell when you’re locked down. My dream was to be able to walk that walk/jog in the sunshine.”

Women’s Voices from Dayton Correctional Institution is a series of stories based on WYSO’s Community Voices class at the prison on the west side. WYSO selected 10 incarcerated women through a competitive application process, and taught them interviewing, storytelling and recording skills. The series is produced and mixed by managing editor Lewis Wallace and Community Voices producer Renee Wilde, with volunteer support from Community Voices graduate Dr. Venita Kelley and editorial input from general manager Neenah Ellis.

 

Renee Wilde was part of the 2013 Community Voices class, allowing her to combine a passion for storytelling and love of public radio. She started out as a volunteer at the radio station, creating the weekly WYSO Community Calendar and co-producing Women’s Voices from the Dayton Correctional Institution - winner of the 2017 PRINDI award for best long-form documentary. She also had the top two highest ranked stories on the WYSO website in one year with Why So Curious features. Renee produced WYSO’s series County Lines which takes listeners down back roads and into small towns throughout southwestern Ohio, and created Agraria’s Grounded Hope podcast exploring the past, present and future of agriculture in Ohio through a regenerative lens. Her stories have been featured on NPR, Harvest Public Media and Indiana Public Radio.
Related Content