BATON ROUGE, La. — Hearings have been happening in the state capital for the last two days as advocates call for youth not to be held in Angola.
A lawsuit filed last month is trying to block state officials from relocating youth from Bride City Center for Youth in Jefferson Parish to the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Gina Womack from the Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children was at the hearing in the state capitol Wednesday.
“The discussions were from the finishing up with medical director… they’re waiting for equipment to arrive,” Womack said.
Gov. Edwards said in July half of the inmates at the Bridge City would be moved to Angola. The decision came after a string of escapes and violence behind the razor fences.
Just this week, Eyewitness News spoke to the wife of a man who was shot and carjacked by a juvenile who escaped the facility.
"Not only did he shoot him twice when it was completely unnecessary because all he wanted was the car, is he took the time to take the wallet out of his back pocket as he’s bleeding on the ground…" she said.
State officials said youth will be moved on or after Sept. 15. Youth advocates worry putting teen offenders in Angola will result in worse outcomes for them.
"It's really hard to speak about it after seeing photos of where they’re going to house the young people and what the cells really look like,” Womack said.
The Governor promised they'd get the services they need.
Angola has a reputation for being one of the nation’s toughest prisons.
When the youth arrive, they will be held inside an old building that once held the prison's death row.
Most recently, it housed adult female inmates after the state women's prison was damaged in the 2016 flood.