07/09/2026
For several months I have been in close contact with Marsha Show, the mother of inmate Dalton Beach, and staff at vcp. What’s happening to Dalton is the psychological and physical abuse of a disabled person. As Daltons advocate Marsha has taken all the right steps and made every phone call suggested to try and mitigate his situation but at every level she was lied to or dismissed. Dalton suffers from several diagnosed mental disorders. This has been a lifelong struggle for him and his loved ones. He’s also dealing with (documented) substance use disorder. Dalton has been on and off medication for a few years. When he was arrested and incarcerated on May 12, 2026 he tested positive for drugs and had been off of his medication. He was confined in a monitored cell alone with no clothes or possessions 24 hours a day with no way to communicate with his family. He was suffering withdrawal, in psychosis, and exhibiting suicidal ideation. The longer he was in there the steeper his mental state declined.
For weeks Marsha hounded vcp to get him back on his meds. She warned that her son’s mental health was declining. In mid June Dalton started on his prescription. His behavior improved and he was finally returned to general population. While Dalton was taking his medication he was able to care for himself, complete chores on the unit, and regularly communicate with his family. Two days after his move Dalton was back in disciplinary. As happens in prison, he was targeted for a shakedown by other inmates. This resulted in some threatening behavior on his part. Thus began an abusive cycle for him. In SHU he flooded his cell, so he lost the privilege of running water. This is called ‘dry cell(ing).’ While there is little in the way of legal regulation for the treatment of inmates in general, the procedure is as follows: inmates are to be allowed one toilet flush a day and supervised sink water access to wash their hands and/or fill their cups for drinking. This protocol was not being followed for the TEN DAYS Dalton was dry celled. When he asked for drinking water he was usually ignored but once told by a staff member to drink the water in his toilet. This timeframe coincided with a summer heat wave. VCP still has no HVAC. Which is super weird considering ex-Warden Bishop spent like $700,000 on a replacement unit in 2020.
The pattern I have seen for the past two months suggests Dalton may not be taking his medication regularly. I have no reason to believe this is anything other than his choice. I think it’s being offered, but as we often see in mental health treatment the patient is not making good choices. From my perspective Dalton is unable to represent himself in any aspect whatsoever. He is severely unwell. His behavior exacerbates the abuse he’s experiencing. He has allegedly assaulted two correctional officers. Those charges are on his docket- what’s not mentioned is Dalton was in a state of psychosis. I can assure you every single witness was aware that this inmate was having a particularly violent mental breakdown. This does not negate accountability for Dalton. It also does not give staff carte blanche to use artillery on him for every perceived infraction. This inmate, unmedicated, has no ability to control his behavior, emotions, or actions as a result of untreated mental illness. Dalton is stuck in a torturous cycle of illness perpetuating abuse and the kid is begging to die. We don’t care about lawsuits- we just want the abuse to stop. We want staff to know that un(der)treated mental illness is not equal to behavioral issues. You all are spraying him with mace, using tear gas type foggers on him, tying him up in the restraint chair all day, and taking every opportunity to get physically violent with him…WHY DO YOU EXPECT ANYTHING BUT FEAR DRIVEN RESPOSE FROM INMATE BEACH?
