Prisoners 'cooked alive' inside 38C jail and fear they 'won't make it out alive'
A prisoner who has been rotting inside a sweltering Texas prison for the past 16 years fears he "won't make it out alive" after being left unconscious from the scorching heat
A prisoner trapped in a sweltering jail feared he "wouldn't make it out alive" as he claims inmates "organs and body parts are being cooked".
Texas has grappled with severe heatwaves in recent years with temperatures soaring above 37.8C (100F), causing prisoners to faint and remain without medical aid for hours after being made to work in the blistering conditions. The relentless Texan sun has not only led to fatalities among inmates but also prompted resignations from prison staff and cost the state millions in legal settlements over wrongful deaths and human rights violations.
Despite the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's silence on any heat-related prisoner deaths since 2012, a recent investigation suggests that up to 13% of inmate deaths during warmer months may be due to the intense heat.
Research by the Texas A&M University Hazard Reduction and Recovery Centre, alongside Texas Prisons Community Advocates, highlights that Texas is among thirteen states lacking comprehensive air conditioning in their prisons, reports the Mirror US.
Joseph Matrie, who has been incarcerated for 16 years at Estelle Unit Texas Prison on a burglary charge, was recently released on parole. In an exclusive chat with the Mirror US from his cell, he shared his daily dread, confessing he wakes up unsure if he'll survive the day.
Joseph revealed the dire conditions that have him living in fear for his life after experiencing severe sweating, confiding: "I was granted parole on a 20-year sentence but I wasn't sure I would make it out with all my recent heat-related issues.
"There are days where I don't know if I'll make it through alive because I wake up covered in sweat as it is so difficult to breathe. All of this is due to overheating and exhaustion.
"The prison is one of the most terrifying places to be as a human when you're having emergency health issues and you have no one with the authority or ability to help you as you lose consciousness."
Describing a recent ordeal which occurred on June 6, 2023, Joseph recounted his struggle requesting relief from the oppressive heat after being confined for hours in his scorching cell.
He continued: "From around 12.30pm until 5pm, myself and others were requesting respite but we were told nothing and told to wait by officers.
"More than one of us was complaining of dizziness, headaches, and seeing spots of blackness in my vision.
"As time ticked on and my pleas for assistance were dismissed, I grew more anxious, fearing I might faint or experience something even graver while struggling to draw breath and parched with an intense thirst.
"After losing consciousness, I hadn't been given any additional water or ice for over five hours.
"I woke up to someone pushing fingers into my eye and saying 'he's ok'. I couldn't stand unassisted to get on a stretcher and had to wait in line behind two other inmates who had also lost consciousness after me."
He disclosed that during the ordeal, one inmate began convulsing and required urgent 911 attention, while another was rushed off for emergency medical care.
"I was put in a wheelchair by officers and brought to the Emergency Rest room where I was extremely grateful to be alive thanks to the nurses and doctors", he expressed.
Joseph, crammed into a cell with a single cellmate, endures the heat with only a puny 8-inch fan purportedly there to cool them around the clock.
Describing the dire conditions, he said: "We have a small jail, which contains one other cellmate, and we can't get out of it unless an officer or medic visits. We have to rely on inmates who may or may not care if you have multiple health issues."
Recounting the less-than-adequate measures for relief, Joseph explained: "Staff will put you in an air-conditioned barber shop along with 17 other inmates but it doesn't have a bathroom, there's no cold water, and it's not big enough for us all."
In grim detail, he recounted his experiences in the make-shift cooling station: "I've passed out and lost consciousness in there, I've seen two people pass out and be left there for three to four hours. Some inmates have to urinate in a bottle and pour it down the sink.
"The prison is so short of staff, there is no let to us out for hours. There'll be one office working the whole wing that is responsible for around 126 inmates and you'll be luck if you get any help or assistance.
"For the past 16 years, I've had to rely on officers inside the prison to be willing to help me if I'm having any heat-related issues. I'm met more often than not with indifference when I've tried to get help.
"I take multiple medications after having a heart attack, some of which cause my body trouble staying in cool temperatures.
"I have lost consciousness due to overheating, seized up, could not stand, walk and talk coherently."
Prisoners are not being paid to work but can face minor or major disciplinary actions for refusing to work in the intense heat.
A minor disciplinary would see inmates not being allowed in the dayroom, items can be taken out of the cell and can just be left with basic hygiene and writing supplies.
However, a major disciplinary would see inmates have phone and visiting restrictions placed upon them - although it does not affect any parole appeals.
Kat Undone, Joseph's wife, revealed the blistering heat in Texas prisons has affected him so much was moved to a different unit after he was found unconscious for two and a half hours.
She revealed, "officers didn't pay attention to him, he was just found in time, and since the incident, he has excessive heat sensitivity."
She stated: "The prisons are hotter than anything in the free world has to endure as the heat in the concrete pushes it forward. When does it stop being a prison and starts being inhumane?".
Kat has expressed dissatisfaction with the response of Texas prison authorities when a heat-related death is reported in the prison, as she suspects it is being covered up.
"If the measures in place work moderately then they would work but they have policies in place which are unable to be followed because the prison is so short-staffed.
"One officer will have to deal with three floors of inmates, who will then have to open doors, work control pickets, open doors, put handcuffs on, and escort them.
"The staff are in thick clothing, in the heat like the inmates, being harassed while hot and aggravated. If the prisons were air-conditioned, they would have more employees."
Kat thinks "animals are treated better than human beings" since Texas has laws governing the temperatures required for animal shelters.
"Texas jails have laws governing the temperatures that should be maintained in animal shelters, which are strict and comprehensive," she said.
"Animals are treated better than human beings, and the staff are in the same condition, where they don't want to do anything for the inmates who are still people."
Amite Dominick, of the Texas Prisons Community Advocates, believes prisons are "greatly endangering" the lives of inmates. She slammed the prison conditions in an interview with The Mirror US, saying: "The prisons are greatly endangering the lives of the individuals incarcerated by refusing to install air conditioning.
"The human body is not meant to take those types of temperatures and we're essentially cooking the incarcerated organs' and body parts.
"People dying in the heat is simply slave labour, to have people working out in the conditions and to not be following the work guidelines. It is legalised slavery.
"We've had 51 deaths in the prison system for June alone and over 24 deaths for July.
"That's more than a death a day. Not all of these deaths can be attributed to the heat but I believe there's a very strong correlation between these deaths and extreme temperatures."
Despite the alarming death tolls reported, with 51 fatalities in the month of June and July in 2023, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has denied any recent deaths due to soaring temperatures.
From 2000 to 2012, there were 17 recorded deaths linked to heat within the prison system, with 2011 alone accounting for 10, coinciding with a record-breaking heatwave, as per TDCJ records.
A study in November by scholars from Brown, Boston and Harvard universities found heat may have been a factor in 13%, or 271, of the fatalities occurring during warm months across Texan prisons without universal air conditioning from 2001 to 2019.
Amanda Hernandez, Communications Chief for Texas Department of Criminal Justice, insists facilities are actively working to mitigate the sweltering heat's impact on inmates.
She stated: "We take numerous precautions to lessen the effects of hot temperatures for those incarcerated within our facilities.
"The agency recognises that some inmates are potentially at a heightened risk of heat-related illnesses because of their age, health conditions, or medications.
"These individuals are identified through an automated heat sensitivity score that uses information from the inmate's electronic health record. Individuals who have a heat sensitivity score receive priority placement in a housing area that is air-conditioned.
"Each summer we continue to refine and improve our practices. What has not changed is our commitment to do all that we can to keep staff and inmates safe."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Daily Record
Model's horrifying statement after killing, castrating and cooking her husband
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Omaiama Nelson was a model in California when she met her husband Bill Nelson, but she would go on to kill him and dismember his body A California model, Omaiama Nelson, tied the knot with Bill Nelson, a pilot 33 years her senior, just three days after they met. However, Omaiama Nelson, who had emigrated from Egypt to the US and worked as a nanny and model, described their union as far from blissful. She accused her husband of revealing his violent streak almost immediately after their marriage and alleged that he regularly subjected her to physical and sexual abuse. Driven to extreme traumatic distress by her husband's behaviour, Omaiama Nelson committed an appallingly savage murder. She gruesomely castrated Bill, clubbed him to death with a clothes iron, fried his hands, and consumed one of his fingers, later saying "I'm glad I lived". Omaiama made her way from Egypt to the States five years prior to the chilling events that would culminate in Bill's grisly demise and result in her incarceration for his murder. After settling in California in pursuit of work as a nanny and model, she encountered Bill in a bar where they were playing pool in 1991, reports the Mirror US. The abuse reportedly commenced soon after they exchanged vows, a claim supported when a psychological evaluation disclosed that Omaiama was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The conflict peaked on Thanksgiving Day in 1991 when Bill purportedly sexually assaulted his wife, prompting her to retaliate. Omaiama Nelson alleged that her husband sexually assaulted her while she was bound during a bondage session. She informed the police that she managed to break free from her restraints, struck him with a lamp, stabbed him with scissors and bludgeoned him to death with a clothes iron. He succumbed to his stab wounds. During the assault, the former Egyptian model was dressed in a red dress, a red hat and red boots, according to investigators. However, this was merely the start of Bill's horrific end. After Bill's demise, Omaiama Nelson embarked on the grisly task of dismembering her husband. It is believed that she castrated him as retaliation for her allegations of sexual assault. The murderer cooked her husband's head and boiled his hands in a desperate bid to erase his fingerprints. She then combined his body parts with leftover turkey from their Thanksgiving dinner and discarded this mixture into the waste disposal. The entire gruesome act took 12 hours, with Omaiama Nelson claiming she was in a 'trance-like state'. Just days prior, a home video showed the couple spending time with family in the Southern US - this footage was presented as evidence to the jury before Omaima's parole was denied in 2011 by Orange County prosecutors. Following the murder, Omaima Nelson was spotted driving her husband's red Corvette, which CBS2 reported contained black rubbish bags on the front seat with body parts inside. A video captured just after police arrived at the scene shows an investigator shocked to discover organs in one of the bags. The trail of evidence led detectives to a gruesome scene at the couple's flat, where it is said that Omaima Nelson had bound her husband to the bed and dismembered him. Two crucial pieces of evidence in the investigation were a wooden knife and a cleaver. Neighbours reported to the police hearing the waste disposal unit running non-stop for two days. Additional body parts were discovered in a brown suitcase and in the freezer. During her trial for the murder of her husband, Omaiama Nelson told the court: "If I didn't defend my life, I would have been dead. I'm sorry it happened, but I'm glad I lived... I'm sorry I dismembered him." Omaima confessed to a psychiatrist that she seasoned his ribs with barbecue sauce and tasted them, although she has since retracted these claims. She was unable to persuade the jury that she was a victim of her husband's abuse, despite a previous psychiatric evaluation and a complaint she made to a nurse in the Orange County Jail. The note stated: "I am ready to lose it and go off on someone. Anyone. I can't sleep at night. I am extremely depressed."
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Model wife castrated and cooked husband before 'taking a bite with BBQ sauce'
Omaiama Nelson, who worked as a model and a nanny after moving to California from Egypt, was convicted of murdering her pilot husband Bill Nelson and has been denied parole A model from California thought she had found her prince charming in Bill Nelson, and after a whirlwind romance, they tied the knot within three days. However, Omaiama Nelson's fairytale quickly turned dark as she recounted a marriage marred by violence shortly after exchanging vows. Omaiama, who had migrated from Egypt to the States, portrayed Bill as a man who swiftly revealed his abusive nature, alleging routine physical and sexual mistreatment. Reaching her breaking point, Omaiama Nelson committed an act of shocking brutality. She mutilated Bill, battered him to death with an iron, fried his hands, and consumed one of his fried fingers whilst declaring "I'm glad I lived". The Egyptian-born model made her way to California half a decade before these chilling events unfolded, earning her living as a nanny and chasing her modelling dreams. Crossing paths with Bill while playing pool at a bar in 1991, she entered into a relationship with the much older pilot, reports the Mirror US. Her ordeal began just days into the marriage, a tale corroborated by psychological assessments that later diagnosed her with PTSD. On Thanksgiving in 1991, after another alleged assault by Bill, Omaiama fought back with deadly force. Omaiama Nelson alleged that her husband had sexually assaulted her during a bondage session, where she was tied to the bed. She informed the police that she managed to escape her bindings and attacked him with a lamp, stabbed him with scissors, and bludgeoned him to death with a clothes iron. His cause of death was stab wounds. During this horrific assault, the former Egyptian model was clad in a red dress, red hat, and red boots, according to investigators. However, this was merely the start of Bill's horrifying end. After Bill's demise, Omaiama Nelson embarked on the macabre task of dismembering her spouse. It is believed she castrated him as retribution for her allegations of sexual assault. The murderer cooked her husband's head and boiled his hands in a desperate bid to erase his fingerprints. She then combined his body parts with leftover turkey from their Thanksgiving dinner and discarded this into the waste disposal unit. The entire gruesome act took 12 hours, with Omaiama Nelson claiming she was in a 'trance-like state'. Just days prior, a home video showed the couple enjoying family time in the Southern US with relatives - this footage was presented to the jury before Omaima's parole was rejected in 2011 by Orange County prosecutors. After the gruesome killing, Omaima Nelson was spotted behind the wheel of her husband's red Corvette, which was discovered with black bin bags on the front seat packed with dismembered body parts, CBS2 reported. A chilling video captured just after the police arrived reveals an officer shocked at uncovering organs in one of the bags. The trail of evidence led detectives to an appalling scene at the couple's flat, where it was believed Omaima Nelson had restrained her husband on the bed and butchered him. Two major pieces of proof in the case were a wooden knife and a butcher's cleaver. Neighbours had reported to the police that the sound of the waste disposal unit ran incessantly for two whole days. More human remains were later found stashed in a brown suitcase and the freezer. At her trial for the murder of her spouse, Omaiama Nelson confessed to the courtroom: "If I didn't defend my life, I would have been dead. I'm sorry it happened, but I'm glad I lived... I'm sorry I dismembered him." Omaima revealed to a psychiatrist that she had seasoned his ribs with barbecue sauce and sampled them, though she has refuted these claims ever since. Her attempt to persuade the jury that she had been the victim of her husband's abuse was unsuccessful, despite a pre-existing psychiatric evaluation and a complaint she lodged with a nurse at the Orange County Jail. The note she wrote highlighted her distress: "I am ready to lose it and go off on someone. Anyone. I can't sleep at night. I am extremely depressed."
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
'I shouldn't have let my Toddler watch Netflix's Ms Rachel, it's now banned'
All of the reasons we as a family had to completely ban Netflix's Ms Rachel from our household I embarked on my motherhood journey just over two years ago and I've been learning the ropes of this wild ride, each day unveiling a new facets of a world I had absolutely no clue about until my child came along. Speaking from the trenches as a working mum, I'm well-acquainted with the daily struggles we face, from striving to be exemplary role models and juggling household duties, to maintaining a career and all that falls in between. In truth, there's never a moment's rest for us battle-worn contemporary parents. Even on so-called "days off", our time is entirely consumed by parenting duties – chaperoning to clubs, cooking meals, supervising baths and bedtime – the relentless list is often overwhelming. Let's offer a salute to those incredible single parents out there too as you command my uttermost admiration. Consequently, with the immense pressure we're under, it's hardly surprising that we often find solace in our faithful friend, "the trusty remote". FI bare no judgement, even I'm not above snatching the sacred remote for a slice of tranquillity, reports the Mirror US. After all, doesn't a frazzled mum deserve a break? Let's be honest, we're all just trying to keep our little ones safe from everyday hazards all while keeping them entertained. If a popular children's show like Ms Rachel can distract them for a few minutes, surely that's a good thing? It must be beneficial for everyone's sanity, right? That was my initial viewpoint, which allowed me a precious moment to perhaps savour a rare semi-warm cuppa as I engaged in the ongoing mummy group chat debate about children's vitamins, the advantages of homeschooling and which suncream is safe for babies. The usual parental minefields and daily dilemmas we face today. Taking a break from the discussion, I glanced up from my phone, observing my two-year-old for the first time engrossed in the top Netflix children's programme, utterly captivated by what was on the screen before her. I paused for a moment, taking in Ms Rachel in all her splendour, noticing my usually non-stop toddler was transfixed, completely mesmerised by the bright colours, repetitive tunes and constant high energy on the screen. What was so captivating about Ms Rachel? I continued watching to see what all the fuss was about, and for me, now on the wrong side of 30, I found the experience entirely overwhelming as an adult. I watched with a mix of bemusement and dismay as the over-the-top antics of Icky Sticky Bubble Gum and Can You Say Mama unfolded, led by an ex-teacher in a pink t-shirt and denim dungarees, and wondered what was going through my little one's head. Initially, it all seemed harmless enough, and we let the buzzed-about children's show play on repeat for several weeks. But alarm bells rang when my toddlers behaviour took a nosedive. Ever tried switching off Ms Rachel or flicking channels? You'd be greeted by earth-shattering wails, flailing limbs, and dramatic drop-and-thrashes on the floor—a clear warning sign of withdrawal from her newfound screen fix. Intrigued and a touch frantic, I turned to the trusty forums of Mumsnet and Reddit, where fellow perplexed parents gather, seeking insight into this Ms Rachel phenomenon. True to form, the online chorus echoed similar tales of "excessive tantrums" stirred by the "overstimulating content". Dealing with the monstrous terrible twos is already testing enough, enduring hysterics over routine tasks like teeth brushing or showering adds another layer to parental purgatory. I've made the tough call to now completely ban Ms Rachel from our viewing list, regretting the day I ever hit play. Most days are now a battle to resist the incessant pleas for us to revert to our old habits, but I am standing firm in my parental resolve and refusing to return to that place.
