The Flint Water Crisishas taken a darker turn than anyone expected. In the last two weeks, three people involved directly or indirectly in lawsuits against the Michigan city over the high amounts of toxic lead in the water have been murdered or died suddenly. The bodies of Sasha Avonna Bell and Sacorya Renee Reed were found shot in the Ridgecrest Village Townhouses on April 19th. Matthew McFarland was found deadjust three days earlier.

Sasha Avonna Bell and Sacorya Renee Reed

Bell was just 19-years old, but she had already become a political activist thanks to the Flint Water Crisis.

She was one of the first people to file a lawsuit with law firms Levy Konigsberg and Robinson, Carter & Crawford. The two firms currently have 64 lawsuits in connection with the crisis. Bell's filed her suit on behalf of her 1-year old son, whom she claimed was poisoned by the lead in the city's water. Anunidentified 1-year old male was found unharmed and unattended at the scene of the Crime, but police declined to acknowledge whether or not it was Bell's son. The child has since been placed in child protective services and Malek Thornton has been arrested for the murders.

Bell's death was significant because her claim determined whether or not the other cases would be heard in a federal or a state court.

She filed the claim againstsix companies and three past and present government officials. It was originally filed in the Genesee Circuit Court but was later transferred to the U.S. District Court because of a motion filed by another defendant, Lockwood, Andrews & Newman.U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara then remanded the case back to the state court system on April 13, citing lack of jurisdiction.

Bell's body was found just six days later along with Reed's. Reed was also 19-years old, butit is unclear how she was connected to the water crisis.

Matthew McFarland

McFarland was a foreman at the Flint Water Treatment plant with 18 years on the job.

The cause of his death has yet to be determined and the autopsy results were inconclusive. He was found unresponsive by a friend in his Otter Lake home on April 16th. He was only 43-years old. A toxicology report is pending to determine the cause of death.

According to the Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, investigators had previously questioned McFarland in regards to the water crisis. Oneday after his death and fourdays after Bell and Reed were killed, Schuette also charged three of McFarland's colleagues in connection to the water crisis. Michael Glasgow, a Flint employee and Department of Environmental Quality Staff members Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby are accused of falsifying data.

Prysby and Busch are also charged with lying to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulator.These charges stem from an email correspondence between Prysby and Glasgow, in which Prysby said that the city would not need to add phosphates to the city's water when it switched its drinking water supply from the Hudson River to the Flint River. The absence of phosphates lead directly to the corrosion of pipes and increased the lead in the water.

Officials believe the result of this deception was a Legionella outbreak that killed 12 people over the span of 17 months and infected almost 90 in 2014. Most of the community and the nation place the blame for the crisis squarely on the shoulders of MichiganGovernor Rick Snyder, who authorized switching the city's water supply to the Flint River.

Snyder is still in office and has currently suffered no legal repercussions in the matter.

The fight continues

Today, Michael Pitt of PittMcGehee, Palmer & Rivers filed an administrative complaint in conjunction with the EPA over injuries to 500 people and pledged to file another complaint next week with an additional 250 people. The suit is asking for$220 million in damages.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED