Attorneys alleged mold exposure caused Michigan inmate Krystal Clark's medical deterioration at Women's Huron Valley prison; MDOC disputed claim

On July 6, 2026, attorneys for Krystal Clark, incarcerated at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan since 2011, filed an emergency motion in federal court alleging she had developed severe, mold-related medical deterioration during months at the facility. The motion said clinical tests from infectious disease specialists found Aspergillus mold actively growing in Clark's ears, causing a fungal tissue infection and rapid, progressive hearing loss, along with chronic coughing, coughing up blood, and nasal bleeding. Clark is a plaintiff in a broader class-action lawsuit filed against the state in 2019 alleging inmates at the facility have been exposed to toxic black mold, a failing HVAC system, and chronic roof leaks for years.

The Michigan Department of Corrections disputed the allegations, saying independent environmental testing by a private contractor found no dangerous mold levels at the facility and that Clark was receiving medical care consistent with her needs. Three days after the motion was filed, on July 9, MDOC temporarily transferred Clark from Women's Huron Valley to the Duane Waters Health Center in Jackson County, saying in a written statement that the move was made "solely for the purpose of allowing the legal parties to adequately review this issue" and was "not an admission or evidence" that Clark was entitled to emergency relief.

Clark's condition had also been described independently five months earlier. At a February 24, 2026 Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) testified that Clark had visible mold growing in her ears and had developed a facial droop and severe swelling in her arms while incarcerated at the facility. Pohutsky and other lawmakers at the hearing described mold, sanitation, and safety problems at Women's Huron Valley -- Michigan's only women's prison -- as longstanding and systemic rather than isolated incidents.

Organizers led by the Washtenaw General Defense Committee demanded Clark's release and the release of other severely ill and medically frail women incarcerated at the facility. Clark's case is distinct from, but arose in the same period and at the same facility as, a separate wave of inmate deaths at Women's Huron Valley that has drawn its own scrutiny of MDOC's oversight.