Corrections officers to plead guilty in death of inmate who froze to death

Two former corrections officers from Alabama have agreed to plead guilty in the death of an inmate who froze to death.

Heather Lasha Craig and Bailey Clark Ganey were correctional officers at the Walker County Jail, about a 40-minute drive northwest of Birmingham, when 33-year-old Tony Mitchell died from hypothermia and sepsis after being kept in a cold, concrete cell without immediate access to a toilet, running water or bedding.

Craig has agreed to plead guilty to deprivation of rights under the color of law and Ganey has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights, according to court documents filed Monday.

Mitchell was arrested in January after a family member requested a wellness check. When law enforcement arrived, Mitchell fired a handgun at least once at deputies, the Walker County sheriff’s office said at the time.

Mitchell was held for almost two weeks in a booking cell described in court documents as “essentially a cement box” that “was notoriously cold during winter months.” During Mitchell’s time in the cell, temperatures in Walker County occasionally dropped below freezing.

Court documents described Mitchell as “almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket.”

Craig observed that Mitchell’s condition “would ultimately result in serious harm or even death” without medical intervention, her plea deal stated. However, according to the plea deal, Craig did not share her concerns because she did not want to be labeled a “snitch” or be retaliated against.

Ganey checked on Mitchell the night before his death and found him lying “largely unresponsive on the floor,” but the officer “took no steps to aid” Mitchell because he didn’t want his future employment opportunities to be negatively impacted, Ganey’s plea deal stated.

Nurses at the jail said Mitchell needed urgent medical attention hours after Ganey last saw him, according to court documents. Mitchell was taken to a hospital and died shortly after, records show. His core body temperature had dropped to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, over 20 degrees below normal body temperature.

Ganey’s attorney, Erica Williamson Barnes, told The Associated Press (AP) that her client was in his early 20s when Mitchell died, had “little formal education” and that “his training largely consisted of on the job instruction he received from more senior jail staff.”

Craig’s attorney declined to comment when reached by the AP.

Meanwhile, former correctional officer Joshua Jones pleaded guilty in September to criminal conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights and jailer Karen Kelly agreed to plead guilty in August to deprivation of rights under color of law in connection to Mitchell’s death.

Instead of seeking medical treatment for Mitchell, Jones and his co-conspirators said that he “‘gets what he gets since he shot at cops’ or words to that effect,” his plea deal stated.

Kelly was concerned Mitchell’s cell conditions posed a serious threat to his well-being but did not tell authorities, other than her supervisor, because she was scared that she would be retaliated against. The jailer asked twice if Mitchell could be given a blanket or a mat but was told a member of the command staff insisted that he “remain under those conditions,” her plea deal stated.

“My client has accepted full responsibility for her minimal role in this tragic death,” Kelly’s lawyer Brett Bloomston told the AP at the time.

In August, Jon C. Goldfarb, an attorney representing Mitchell’s family in civil litigation, told the AP that “the family is shocked to see in writing what they knew happened to Tony Mitchell.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.