Women's Voices From Dayton Correctional Institution

On Christmas morning Tyra Patterson left a Cleveland prison after serving 23 years of a life sentence. She was a teenager in 1994 when she was convicted…

The U.S. has the largest prison population of any nation and in the past three decades women have become the fastest growing segment of prisoners, double…

Lana Williams reflects on a typical day in prison, and how she’s getting through a life sentence without parole.Highlights from the audio:“You know, some…

Or’Zaria Slaton had a difficult childhood—she says she was raised by gangsters, and spent time in custody of lots of different adults, in and out of group…

Diana Linz has always had a connection with dogs, and being in the dog program at the prison has helped her cope with being locked up.Highlights from the…

One of the students in WYSO’s class at Dayton Correctional Institution, Alisha Federici, got out just after class ended. She returned to her family in…

Shannon Evans came to prison earlier this year after a three-year spiral into drug addiction. As she puts it, she used to be a “goody-two-shoes” and never…

During WYSO’s community voices course at Dayton Correctional Institution, the topic of prison food kept coming up. Dayton Correctional Institution gets…

Nikkia Sullivan grew up wanting to be a kingpin. At 13 she set out to make her dream come true. In this story she talks to fellow inmate LeShae Landry…

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…

Aimee Wissman is three years into an eight-year sentence at Dayton Correctional Institution for crimes related to her heroin addiction. As an artist, she…

Kids are an invisible presence in most prisons. One national survey cited in a state of Ohio report on parents in prison finds more than 2 percent of…