BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Yvonne Frederiksen was scared, and she let prison officials know. Her cellmate, Veronica Lewis, was notorious: She’d been shuffled between prisons and psychiatric hospitals after she shot and nearly killed her gun range instructor in 2015.
Then, on May 29, police say Lewis attacked Frederiksen as she slept, bludgeoning her head with a prison-issued tablet computer and a padlock tucked inside a sock.
The attack raises questions about whether Vermont prisons are equipped to meet the needs of someone like Lewis and whether staff can keep other prisoners safe.
Our Darren Perron spoke with Derek Brouwer, who wrote about the story in this week’s issue of Seven Days. Watch the video to see their full conversation.