Protesters call for Department of Corrections Director Chuck Ryan's ouster

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- Families who have had loved ones killed in prison are calling for change.

On Friday, they marched from the Department of Corrections to Governor Doug Ducey's office to send a message.

Daniele Jenson says she marched from the DOC because of her brother Jeffrey. Jeffrey was killed in 2017, while he was an inmate at the Lewis Prison

"It's important to be here today," said Jensen. "This has really hit my family in the heart. My brother Jefferey was brutally assaulted three months before his release."

Jensen joined other families saying they themselves or their loved ones had been victims of Arizona's prison system.

"I actually got assaulted several different times," said Isreal O'Bannon, who once served time at the Lewis Prison. "My celly (cellmate) got assaulted, and they have cameras where it happened and nothing was done."

The march, organized by Arizona's ACLU, saw the group march to Ducey's office to deliver a letter, demanding the firing of DOC director Charles Ryan. The protest came after recent revelations about inmate safety concerns at state prisons.

"I just really think that the community is shut out, their families are shut out, the voices are shut out," said Khalil Rushdan with ACLU Arizona. "I have a family member now having issues obtaining medical records of her father, who passed away in prison."

Gov. Ducey's office has issued a statement, which reads: