Precious Amore Anderson died July 1, 2013 at the Oregon State Department of Corrections Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville. She was eighteen years old.

Friends and family members remembered her at First AME Zion Church in Portland on July 13.

According to her Facebook page, Precious was an intern at Free Geek. Precious was a former Franklin High School student and member of the Native American Youth Association.

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Inmate who killed herself had suicide risk

From the Albany Herald-Tribune, July 13, 2013

A female inmate serving time on a Linn County assault conviction was found dead by suicide last week at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, an Oregon Department of Corrections spokeswoman said.

Precious Amor (sic) Anderson of Portland was 18.

Court records obtained by the Democrat-Herald show Anderson was viewed as a “clear suicide risk” by a clinical psychologist who interviewed her in 2011. The reports indicated she had mental health problems, stemming partly from physical and sexual abuse she suffered as a foster child.

She had made at least six previous suicide attempts, including an incident in which she went into a coma after overdosing on prescription pills.

Vicki Reynolds, a Corrections Department spokeswoman, said prison employees keep a close eye on inmates for signs they might hurt themselves. She added that as far as she knew, there weren’t indications that Anderson was a suicide risk. Anderson was housed among the general population at Coffee Creek.

“These aren’t very common. The Department of Corrections does our best to keep inmates safe and secure,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds refused to detail how Anderson killed herself, saying it would have a negative impact on inmates’ emotions.

Anderson was found dead in her cell, where she was the sole occupant, at 12:05 a.m. July 3, according to a news release.

She was in the state prison system for assaulting workers at the Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility in Albany. One of the assaults occurred when she was 17.

According to court documents, Anderson’s mother was a drug addict and her father a member of the Crips gang.

Anderson entered foster care for the first time as a toddler. By age 6, she was a permanent ward of the state.

“Suffice to say, her childhood got off to a rough start,” wrote clinical psychologist Orin Bolstad in a 2011 report.

Anderson had more than 20 different foster placements.

As a child, she was physically abused by two of her caregivers. As a teen, she was sexually abused in a foster home, the report states.

READ – Oregon inmate, 18, who killed herself had a history of suicide attempts, Oregonian 7/13/2013
READ – Female Ore. inmate’s death ruled a suicide, KGW.com 7/12/2013
READ – Suicide confirmed as cause of death for Oregon inmate, Salem Statesman Journal 7/11/2013
READ – Inmate dies suddenly in Wilsonville women’s prison; police investigating, Oregonian 7/3/2013