Employees charged in connection with death and assaults at Alabama jail

Associated Press

2 days ago

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Six more employees at an Alabama jail have been indicted in connection with the death of a mentally ill man who died of hypothermia after being held for two weeks in a concrete cell, while several of them have also been accused in the assaults of other inmates.
The indictment unsealed Monday is the latest round of charges related to the 2023 death of Tony Mitchell after his incarceration at the Walker County Jail. A total of 20 people have been indicted or plead guilty.
The latest indictment charges the six employees, including the jail captain and supervisor, with conspiracy, alleging they sought to 'unlawfully punish detainees in the jail for the detainees' perceived misbehavior.'
Five of the six are charged with depriving Mitchell of his rights, including depriving him of humane conditions, shelter, sanitation and medical care.
'The offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Individual #1,' prosecutors wrote in the indictment, which referred to Mitchell only as Individual #1.
The indictment also details a string of other assaults at the jail, and three of the officers have been charged with deprivation of rights for alleged assaults of other inmates.
One of the employees is accused of slamming a handcuffed person's head into a cell floor. He and another employee are accused of beating an inmate who was recaptured after an escape. Another is accused of punching a restrained inmate.
Two of the employees are charged with obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said they offered an inmate food from outside the jail to act as an 'enforcer' in his dorm and assault an 18-year-old inmate. Prosecutors said they later submitted a letter to the court that falsely claimed the 'enforcer' had been a model inmate who showed zero signs of aggression.
Defense attorneys listed in court records did not immediately return emails seeking comment sent Monday afternoon.
Mitchell's death on Jan. 26, 2023, put a spotlight on conditions and allegations of abuse at the jail in Jasper, Alabama.
Mitchell, 33, died after being brought from the jail to a hospital emergency room with a body temperature of 72 degrees (22 degrees Celsius).
He had been taken into custody two weeks earlier on Jan. 12 after a relative asked authorities to do a welfare check on him because he appeared to be having a mental breakdown. The Walker County sheriff's office said that Mitchell was arrested after firing a shot at deputies and running into the woods.
Prosecutors wrote in the indictment that for much of his two-week detention, Mitchell was held in a concrete cell that serves as the jail's drunk tank with 'no blanket, mattress, or clothing, and was routinely left naked on the bare concrete floor.' He was routinely covered in feces and was not provided with regular opportunities to shower or use a toilet, prosecutors wrote.