/A 14th Mississippi inmate death announced this month — quietly on prison agency’s website

A 14th Mississippi inmate death announced this month — quietly on prison agency’s website

Curtis Hughes (45) was declared dead at 8:53 pm on Aug. 28 at Parchman’s Mississippi State Penitentiary Hospital. According to MDOC’s online database of inmates, Hughes was transferred to the hospital on Saturday. This is approximately four days before his death. Hughes was sentenced for possession of methamphetamines and possession of firearms by a felon in June last year. He had already served just over one year of his 25 year sentence. Hughes is the fourth Parchman prisoner who has died this month. Hughes’ death was announced by a statement on Wednesday that was posted to the department’s website. However, it was not distributed to media outlets. According to the statement, an autopsy is being performed to determine the cause and manner of his death. Parchman has seen more deaths than any other state facility in the period 2012-2017. Data also show that Parchman has a higher death rate than the general population as Mississippi Today previously reported. MDOC records also indicate that 11 prisoners were not killed in any one month over the six-year period. Pelicia Hall, corrections commissioner, stated Tuesday that the “number of deaths reported by the department is not out-of-line with the number in previous months.” Gov. Phil Bryant stated that federal and state agencies were investigating the deaths, according to the Clarion Ledger on Wednesday. The rising death toll has been raised by both the chairs of the corrections committees of the state legislature, Rep. Bill Kinkade (R-Byhalia) and Sen. Sampson Jackson II (D-Preston). Kinkade stated Thursday that although he can’t speak legally about the deaths until the whole investigatory process is completed — an autopsy from a medical examiner, notification to the family, and an MDOC internal investigation — most deaths are natural causes like hepatitis C, or cancer. These investigations will likely take a while to produce results. The state’s crime laboratory, which performs autopsies on all deaths in custody, has a long backlog that dates back to years. This leaves the families of prisoners and the general public without any answers. Jody Owens from the Southern Poverty Law Center in Mississippi said that prison conditions resulting from years of neglect, including understaffing, and delayed medical treatment, have made it a deadly month. The SPLC is currently a plaintiff against a class action lawsuit regarding the conditions at East Mississippi Correctional Facility. A judge ordered that experts reexamine it last week. Paloma Wu, SPLC staff attorney, added that if the department believes it has nothing to hide it should make all deaths public. Tony Springer Sr. was also reported by MDOC as a 75-year-old prisoner at South Mississippi Correctional Institution, Leakesville. According to the department, Springer, the 13th inmate who died this month, was declared dead at 6:45 pm on August 27 at Singing River Hospital, Pascagoula.