On May 20, 2009, Marcia Joann Powell, a 48-year-old inmate at Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville, died of heart failure caused by extreme heat exposure while spending four hours in an outdoor cage.

[2] Powell was arrested in a sting operation by police when she propositioned an undercover officer for oral sex in exchange for $20 worth of crack cocaine.

[8] She collapsed from heat stroke, at 2:40 p.m. and was brought to West Valley Hospital at 3:12 p.m. She was taken off life support at 11:15 p.m. and declared dead at 12:42 a.m.[9] An autopsy report showed that Powell had first- and second-degree burns and a core body temperature of 108 °F (42 °C).

Of several fluid samples taken up on entry into hospital and post-mortem, blood taken from an iliac artery showed traces of benztropine (0.02 mg/l), valproic acid (6.6 mg/l), haloperidol (0.005 mg/l) and lidocaine, all medications prescribed for Powell's mental illness, which increased her sensitivity to heat, sunlight, and dehydration.

[8] During Coventry's search for other relatives, he found that she had a biological brother, William Warren Powell (also known as Rusty Lewis), but he could not be located.

Coventry also discovered that Powell had two children that were put up for adoption, but her son Richard Hussman had been murdered in Missouri in 2004 and her daughter Eureka Breshard, who lived in Tempe, could not be found.

[13] It was found that the Perryville prison was using the cages as punishment for disciplinary infractions, which was reportedly stopped according to ADC officials.