Justice for Gynnya! | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Justice for Gynnya!

Last month, a young girl named Gynnya McMillen died while in custody at Juvenile Detention Center in Elizabethtown. Gynnya’s life mattered.

Her death has drawn national attention. There were clear violations of the safety protocols: She wasn’t checked on according to protocol. Nobody tried immediately to resuscitate her when she was found. And the night before her death, she was placed in what’s been called an “Aikido restraint” for not removing her sweatshirt.

The questions surrounding Gynnya’s death still go unanswered. There is surveillance video that might shed light on Gynnya’s death, but it hasn’t been released, even to her family. Her family is calling for answers and reforms to the juvenile justice system.

Folks in E-town and beyond have been taking action. Kate McElroy, a KFTC member in the Southern Kentucky Chapter, attended a vigil outside the detention center where Gynnya died. “When our Southern Kentucky Chapter heard about Gynnya’s death, we saw that her death was another in a string of deaths of young black people in custody, and we wanted to support her family. The second we got to the vigil, we could feel the energy of this group of people who were gathered to honor this young girl who’d just died. She was a child in their community. They saw their own children in her.”

Our friends at ColorofChange.org has been helping Gynnya’s family with additional resources, and an organization called Unheard Voices is helping with additional actions.

Take action

  • Sign this ColorofChange.org petition to ask the Department of Juvenile Justice for the release of the surveillance video. More than 50,000 people have signed.

  • ColorofChange.org has put together a #Justice4Gynnya social media kit with sample tweets and posts.

  • Unheard Voices is holding an action on Friday, 6:00pm in E-town. Contact Micah Butler for details: [email protected] | 270.801.8936

Learn more

Here are several recent news articles about Gynnya’s death and her family’s attempts to learn more. Louisville’s WFPL has been following her story, along with several national news sources.

Chapter: 
Southern Kentucky
Tags: 
Racial Justice