Troy Ashmus

Portrait of Troy Ashmus

Troy Ashmus passed away from complications of COVID-19 on July 20, 2020. Troy died in a California hospital after contracting the virus while incarcerated at San Quentin. He was 58 years old.

Bob Russell Williams Jr., who was incarcerated with Troy at San Quentin, said that people “called him Humphrey for reasons unknown to me, though I wish I could have thought to ask.” Bob also remembers Troy as “creative as all get out too. Give him some beads and maybe a bit of leather, and the dude would come up with all sorts of cool stuff." 

A friend of Troy’s on the podcast Ear Hustle shared that he remembers Troy’s pet spiders and that Troy was “very proud of them.” He also said, “I really enjoyed visiting with him, standing outside his cell...I saw him in late June, a few days before I received a positive Covid-19 test myself. And by that point the virus was spreading really quickly in the prison. It hadn’t yet reached his housing area but within a day or two then they started getting sick too.”

The day before Troy passed away, a vigil was held outside of San Quentin State Prison calling for the release of those incarcerated because of the rapid and “terrifying” spread of Covid-19 inside. Troy became the 12th person incarcerated at San Quentin to die from COVID-related complications.

Photograph of vigil participants outside San Quentin State Prison by way of Random Length News.

One of the vigil participants stated, “Getting sent to San Quentin shouldn’t be an automatic death sentence.” Another asked, “How many more incarcerated folks will face death during this pandemic before you begin mass releases?”

We write this memorial to remember Troy’s life. Rest in peace, Troy. 

This memorial was written by MOL team member Caroline Harlow with information from reporting by KPIX CBS SF Bay Area, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Random Length News and Earhustle.

Original artwork by MOL team member EJ Joyner.