TRAGIC DETAILS REVEALED..! – TEENAGE MUM FOUND D3AD OUTSIDE HER CELL AT MELBOURNE’S MAXIMUM-SECURITY WOMEN’S PRISON AS FORMER INMATES BLAST A CULTURE OF LOCKDOWNS THEY SAY IS PUTTING LIVES AT RISK.
Former inmates lash out after 18-year-old mum found dead outside cell at max security Melbourne prison
Former inmates at Melbourne’s max security women’s prison are fuming after an 18-year-old mum was found dead outside her cell.
A teenage mum has been found dead outside her cell at Melbourne’s maximum security women’s prison as former inmates blast a culture of lockdowns they say are putting lives at risk.
Tarsha Golightly, 18, was found dead at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre on July 27. Her death is not being treated as suspicious but will be the subject of a coronial and workplace investigation.
While details of what happened in the lead up the discovery are limited, it is believed that several days of lockdowns preceded Ms Golightly’s death.
“Some losses are so profound that words never feel big enough,” a family member wrote online.
“Our beautiful Tarsha was only 18 years old. She had an entire lifetime ahead of her, and her passing has left a space in our family that can never be filled.
“Right now, we are trying to do the impossible — grieve someone we love while also navigating the practical realities that follow such a heartbreaking loss.
“Please check in on the people you love. Sometimes the biggest battles are the ones we cannot see.”
Tarsha Golightly was found dead outside her cell at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Melbourne.
Ms Golightly’s death will be the subject of a coroner’s report.
Two former inmates who spoke to news.com.au about the incident were scathing of ongoing, rolling lockdowns at the facility that have been well documented.
A lockdown is where inmates are confined to their cell for 23 hours a day — sometimes 24 — and can happen when there are incidents, staff shortages or code blacks — a suicide attempt.
Ashleigh Chapman, who endured a brutal, extended stay in solitary confinement at the prison and documented the horrors she experienced, told news.com.au Ms Golightly’s death was not surprising.
“Tarsha Golightly, 18 years old. A young women, who is another casualty of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre. I am not surprised there is another death, lockdowns and these bail laws,” she said.
“I thought the justice system learnt. We lost Veronica Nelson after she allegedly stole a bottle of perfume, and was denied bail and lost her life.
“The Coroner deemed her death as preventable, we lost Heather Calgaret… A coroner deemed her death as preventable.
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
Inside a cell at the DPFC. Picture: Kylie Else
“We have lost a lot of women because of the conditions at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre because bail was not available and because of these lockdowns.
“Why do we have another death in custody? Because nothing has changed, conditions are getting worse. Mental health is strife, a young women should not lose her life.
“Tarsha doesn’t get the chance to be a mum, a wife, a student, have a career, have a life, rehabilitate.”
Kelly Flanagan, a former inmate at the prison, says she witnessed seven suicide attempts in a period of 30 days while she was locked up there.
One was near-fatal and “right next door to my cell”.
“We found her,” she said. “I remember her saying ‘I cant stay in my cell another day, I cant be locked away without human connection or the sun. I would rather die’.
“I am not surprised this has happened again. I said previously that lockdowns, lack of care (and) support would create death and it has.
“Shame on you. A child has lost its mother.”
News.com.au approached the Corrections Victoria about whether lockdowns had been in place in the lead up to Ms Golightly’s death.
A former inmate’s lockdown notes. Picture: Rohan Smith
Ms Flanagan kept notes of lockdowns at DPFC. Picture: Rohan Smith
A statement reads: “Corrections Victoria acknowledges the death of an 18-year-old woman in custody at DPFC on Monday 27 July 2026.
“We recognise that all deaths in custody have an impact on family members, friends and those working within the corrections system, as well as victims of crime.
“All deaths in custody are reported to the Coroners Court of Victoria, which formally determines the cause of death.”
The Geelong Advertiser, which first reported on Ms Golightly’s death, spoke with Jesuit Social Services, who said “several consecutive days of lockdowns” were in place in the days prior to her death.
“While we are seeking further information on the specific events that led up to this tragedy, during lockdowns women experience significant restrictions to their movement and access to support, and may be denied access to medical and mental health support, phone calls, legal appointments, exercise facilities, and outdoor spaces,” a spokesperson said.
Mushroom killer Erin Patterson is being housed at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, Melbourne’s only max security women’s jail.
Ms Flanagan, who left the prison in March last year, kept a diary of how many days the prison had been locked down.
“Just before I got out, the women at DPFC including me were being locked down as much as 60 per cent of the time,” she told news.com.au.
“In the last month that I was in prison there were seven women who tried to commit suicide. Five of those were Indigenous women. Two near fatal attempts. The community does not know how bad it is there at the moment.”
Her diary notes show that in February last year there were lockdowns on February 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24 and 27.
Flanagan has compiled a spreadsheet of every lockdown at DPFC between January 2024 and May 2025. The data has come from prisoners, lawyers and other prison sources, she says.
It shows the Gordon Unit, where Ms Chapman was in solitary confinement, had 14 all day lockdowns between March and May this year. The reason for those lockdowns was “no staff”.
“On March 13, I was living two cells down from a woman who tried to kill herself,” Ms Flanagan said.
