Mentally ill inmate tased, frozen to death in Alabama jail, suit alleges

[Auburn85 438]

https://www.al.com/news/2023/02/mentally-ill-inmate-tased-frozen-to-death-in-alabama-jail-suit-alleges.html

 

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Feb 14

 

By

• Sarah Whites-Koditschek | swhites-koditschek@al.com

 

Anthony Mitchell, 33, alarmed his cousin Steve Mitchell when he showed up at his house, looking thin and much older than months before, acting psychotic, and insisting he must enter a “portal to hell” in his mother’s attic to retrieve the body of his long-ago stillborn brother. After a 911 call, Mitchell was picked up by sheriffs’ deputies who said he’d fired a gun at them and ran into the woods.

 

The Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, according to the suit, told the family they’d get him medical help in Walker County Jail. Instead, guards tased Mitchell and locked him in a freezer, killing him, the suit alleges. The suit filed Monday also contends jail leadership began a cover up of Mitchell’s death hours before he died.

“This case,” the suit says, “therefore presents an appalling question: how does a man literally freeze to death while incarcerated in a modern climate-controlled jail, in the custody and care of corrections officers?”

 

 

The lawsuit alleges the abuse and medical neglect Mitchell experienced at the hands of Sheriff Nick Smith and 13 staff at the county jail, including corrections officers, nurses and an investigator was filed Monday in federal court in the Northern District of Alabama by Margaret Mitchell, who is Mitchell’s mother and the administrator of his estate.

 

 

“While Tony languished naked and dying of hypothermia,” the lawsuit says, “numerous corrections officers and medical staff wandered over to his open cell door to spectate and be entertained by his condition.”

A former deputy also filed a separate, but related lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Alabama’s Northern District. Former Corrections Officer Karen Kelly sued the Walker County Sheriff’s Office and multiple officers for being fired and for retaliation after she shared videos with Mitchell’s family of him being abused in the jail.

 

 

“This is the worst case of inmate abuse I have ever seen,” said attorney for the estate, Jon Goldfarb.

 

 

The Sheriff’s department and the county jail did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

 

 

Mitchell, who had a history of addiction to methamphetamine, lived with his father in Carbon Hill, Alabama. His mother paid his utility bills and brought him food, according to the lawsuit.

 

 

Mitchell spiraled out of control in the months after his father’s death this fall taking drugs and experiencing mental health problems, according to the suit. He lost about 100 pounds in three months. He looked so “haggard and emaciated, that his cousin, Steve, said he almost didn’t recognize him when he showed up at his house on January 13, according to the complaint. Mitchell said he wanted to share a secret no one else knew.

“Obviously delusional, Tony told Steve that he, Tony, had a brother who had been stillborn, which was true. Tony further told Steve that his parents had put the baby brother’s body in a box that was hidden in the attic of the house.” This was not correct, according to the complaint.

 

 

Mitchell said he needed to rip out a wall in the attic to find his baby brother’s body, according to the family’s suit. He said there were two portals in the house, one to heaven and another to hell. He wanted to put his brother in the portal to heaven.

 

 

Steve took Tony to show him there was no box in the attic before calling 911 and reporting Tony’s mental breakdown and asking for an ambulance. Sheriff’s officers arrived at Tony’s house and found him in a psychotic state, according to the complaint and according to reports at the time. His face was spray painted black so he could enter the portal to hell in the attic.

Deputies claimed in a Facebook statement that Mitchell fired a handgun at them before retreating into the woods where he was arrested

 

 

The sheriff’s public information officer, T.J. Armstrong, a defendant in the suit, took a picture of Mitchell’s painted face and shared it on social media, where it spread quickly. According to the suit, Armstrong assured Mitchell’s cousin that he would get medical treatment in jail.

 

 

“‘We’re going to detox him and then we’ll see how much of his brain is left,’ or words to that effect,” said Armstrong, according to the suit.

 

 

The suit says Mitchell was put in an isolation cell, not meant to hold inmates, in the booking area of the Walker County Jail where he was left for most of the 14 days before his death. He was not given medical care, according to the suit.

 

 

A still image from a security video shows a guard dragging Anthony Mitchell out of a shower room as he lies naked on the ground.

The room had cement floors with a drain but no bed or toilet, and Mitchell had nothing to sleep on. He also was left naked, according to the suit, possibly because of the jail’s “suicide watch” policy, until he was taken to the hospital, dying of hypothermia, 14 days later.

 

 

Officer Kelly took video recordings of security footage of the events leading up to Mitchell’s death and shared them publicly. Her lawsuit alleges she was fired in retaliation afterward.

 

 

One video showed Mitchell being dragged, naked, across the floor by officers, according to the family’s suit. Another, from January 15, two days after he was taken to jail, shows him being tased, naked, by a group of officers in the doorway of his isolation cell, the family’s suit says.

 

 

According to the lawsuit, Mitchell, who relied on false teeth after years of methamphetamine use, lost his teeth as he was tased. When his teeth fell to the ground, officers confiscated them. Already emaciated, Mitchell was unable to chew food without his teeth and went days without eating, the lawsuit alleges.

 

Anthony Mitchell's false teeth were returned to his mother after his death. They were confiscated on the third day of his fourteen day stay at the jail. Mitchell relied on his false teeth to chew food, according to the lawsuit.

Jail incident reports from Jan. 26 viewed by Kelly, according to the family suit, state two officers, Braxton Kee and Jacob Smith, found Mitchell unresponsive at feeding time, around 4 a.m. The family’s suit alleges he had been left for hours in a restraint chair in a jail freezer before the officers found him.

 

 

The suit says the jail kitchen typically opens at 3 a.m. and Mitchell was not taken to the hospital until 8:30 a.m.

 

 

“This means that after Tony was removed from the walk-in freezer or other frigid environment, at least five hours passed before he was transported to Walker County Medical Center, despite his obvious serious medical need for emergency medical treatment,” the lawsuit states, adding that his chances of survival dwindled by the hour as he suffered from hypothermia.

 

 

Security footage from 4 a.m. that morning showed Mitchell lying naked on a pile of trash on the cement floor of his cell as officers laughed at him, according to the suit. Video also showed jail nurse, Alicia Herron, enter the cell and spend a couple of minutes inside, appearing to give no medical treatment, according to the suit.

According to the suit, a video from 6 a.m., when a shift change happened, showed officers peering inside Mitchell’s room through the door. They brought a sleeping mat into his room. Nurse Brad Allred was recorded standing at the door of the cell looking at Mitchell. Officers began sweeping trash out of the cell as Mitchell lay on the floor.

 

 

At 8:30 a.m. officers removed Mitchell from his cell in a wheelchair. He was dressed in an orange jail uniform. He fell out of the wheelchair outside the cell and deputies put him back in it. His body made slow and spasmodic movements, according to the complaint. Deputies then picked up Mitchel and dragged him back into the cell, according to the complaint.

 

 

Four deputies then carried Mitchell outside the jail to an SUV. They placed him on the ground to open the door, allowing his head to rest on the concrete. In the video, he appeared unconscious. Officers then lifted him into the vehicle and drove him to Walker County Medical Center.

 

 

By the time they reached the hospital, the suit says, Mitchell was breathing with difficulty, only two to four breaths a minute. According to the suit, deputies did not tell hospital staff Mitchell had been put in a freezer. Mitchell was cold to the touch when he arrived in the E.R. according to the suit.

“Learning that Tony was hypothermic caused physicians to immediately change their course of treatment, as the measures they had initially employed were inappropriate to resuscitate a person who is severely hypothermic,” the suit stated. After three hours of trying to save Mitchell, he was pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m.

 

 

“I am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration, but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72 (degrees),” an emergency room physician wrote in Mitchell’s medical records. The doctor listed his cause of death as hypothermia but stated that the cause of it was not clear. An autopsy has yet to be performed.

 

 

Days later, County Sheriff, Nick Smith and communications officer T.J. Armstrong gave a statement to the press after CBS 42 reported on the family’s questions. “The inmate was alert and conscious when he left the facility and arrived at the hospital,” the statement said.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the death.

 

 

Jon Goldfarb, attorney for Mitchell’s estate said the videos show correctional officers laughing as Mitchell lay naked and dying.

 

 

“People who have seen these videos think they are watching something in Russia or Abu Ghraib,” he said, “but this happened in our own backyard in Walker County, Alabama.”

 

 

[Mims44 2,033]

Insanely sad story.

 

Also, maybe I'm out of date with how things work here, but why is this in the political smack talk instead of normal forum?

Doesn't seem like the type story where there would be 2 sides going at each over whether the right decisions were made.

[Auburn85 438]

18 minutes ago, Mims44 said:

Insanely sad story.

 

Also, maybe I'm out of date with how things work here, but why is this in the political smack talk instead of normal forum?

Doesn't seem like the type story where there would be 2 sides going at each over whether the right decisions were made.

For the most part, I post stuff in the Smack Talk because a lot of threads in the other end up transferred here.

[Mims44 2,033]

Just now, Auburn85 said:

For the most part, I post stuff in the Smack Talk because a lot of threads in the other end up transferred here.

Ah ok, I thought smack talk was for the posts that people just knew were gonna get the reds and blues all riled up against each other.

 

Gonna try and remember to keep up with this story, I'd like to see the guy/his family get at least some semblance of justice.

[CoffeeTiger 5,957]

Stuff like this happens all too often because our nation doesn't have a functional, funded mental healthcare system. 

 

If you have someone you care about going through a mental health crisis, I'd NEVER call the police to come. The police aren't trained on how to handle mental health issues and in many cases they will make the situation worse , or like in this case, intentionally abuse or kill the patient. Our nations jails are barely livable and adequate for normal functional humans, and have almost no care or attention paid to mental or physical health. 

 

Family says they called for an ambulance and the police came instead? I guess my advice for families in this situation would be to try and restrain the guy/tie him up yourself and take him to a mental health facility to try and have him forcibly admitted? 

I don't know. its a tough situation.  

Only thing that is for sure is the guy is dead and any damages to the family will be paid out by the citizens and local government coffers.

 

[TexasTiger 14,524]

5 hours ago, Mims44 said:

Insanely sad story.

 

Also, maybe I'm out of date with how things work here, but why is this in the political smack talk instead of normal forum?

Doesn't seem like the type story where there would be 2 sides going at each over whether the right decisions were made.

It’s not just the topic or seriousness of the story. Links without initiating a serious discussion go here. For example, someone might link this story and give their views on needed reform to prevent such incidents.

Posts that start in this forum often lead to good discussion. 

[icanthearyou 4,468]

This is a murder.

[Mims44 2,033]

17 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Stuff like this happens all too often because our nation doesn't have a functional, funded mental healthcare system. 

 

If you have someone you care about going through a mental health crisis, I'd NEVER call the police to come. The police aren't trained on how to handle mental health issues and in many cases they will make the situation worse , or like in this case, intentionally abuse or kill the patient. Our nations jails are barely livable and adequate for normal functional humans, and have almost no care or attention paid to mental or physical health. 

 

Family says they called for an ambulance and the police came instead? I guess my advice for families in this situation would be to try and restrain the guy/tie him up yourself and take him to a mental health facility to try and have him forcibly admitted? 

I don't know. its a tough situation.  

Only thing that is for sure is the guy is dead and any damages to the family will be paid out by the citizens and local government coffers.

 

I agree completely with the first bolded sentence, even when police are doing their best to handle this they are behind the 8 ball as they are usually operating with no experience or some short tutorial videos on how to handle people with mental problems.

 

I disagree with the second bolded statement being the issue in this case, this wasn't the police not being trained in the best way to approach someone with a mental condition/disorder. These were murderers/torturer's carrying out torture/murder.

[Auburn85 438]

https://abc3340.com/news/local/walker-county-sheriffs-office-says-claims-in-wrongful-death-suit-are-pure-fiction

 

 

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Walker County Sheriff's Office dismisses claims in wrongful death suit as 'pure fiction'

by Stephen Quinn

Fri, March 3rd 2023

 

JASPER, Ala. — Attorneys representing the Walker County Sheriff's Office denied the claims made in the wrongful death suit filed by the family of deceased inmate Anthony Mitchell as 'pure fiction.' The filing made in federal court Friday was the most detailed response law enforcement have given to date about the troubling claims of Mitchell's treatment in the jail which have led to criminal investigations by the Alabama State Bureau of Investigations and the FBI.

The suit admitted Mitchell was on suicide watch after he was arrested but denies he was kept naked in a cell. They argue this is supported by surveillance video.

"These allegations intentionally created a firestorm of derision that swept not only these Defendants but law enforcement in general and caused criminal investigations to be opened against the Defendants. These speculative allegations are false."

 

WCSO Motion to Strike by Jeff Wyatt on Scribd

 

Attorneys for the sheriff's office gave particular focus to the suggestion in the suit that Mitchell was kept in a freezer or refrigerated area.

"This case embodies the adage, “A lie is halfway around the world before the truth can put on its boots.” Mitchell was never placed in a freezer. The only time that Mitchell left the booking area where he was housed was to attend his 72-hour hearing and to go to the hospital."

The suit offered the freezer as a plausible explanation of Mitchell's condition after citing notes from an ER doctor who said the inmates body temperature was 72 degrees when he arrived at the hospital and that the likely cause of his death was hypothermia. The response did not seek to challenge the doctor's observations.

"Defendants admit that the medical records state what they state."

Mitchell's body was sent for an autopsy at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

Video of Mitchell being transported from the jail to Walker Baptist Medical Center raised concern. Many questioned why an ambulance was not called for help and what treatment Mitchell received while incarcerated.

Walker County has not disputed the authenticity of the video and that the inmate pictured is Mitchell.

The jail supervisor who secretly recorded the video was fired. She has filed a federal lawsuit claiming retaliation. The Walker County Sheriff's Office has yet to file a response to her suit.

 

 

[Auburn85 438]

https://www.cbs42.com/news/crime/lawyers-for-walker-county-sheriff-nick-smith-ask-judge-to-remove-him-from-inmate-death-lawsuit/

 

 

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Lawyers for Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith ask judge to remove him from inmate death lawsuit

 

by: Drew Taylor

Posted: Apr 4, 2023 / 10:30 AM CDT

Updated: Apr 4, 2023 / 10:31 AM CDT

 

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — Attorneys for the top law enforcement official in Walker County are asking a judge to remove him from a lawsuit from the family of an inmate who died in police custody in January.

On Monday, the legal team for Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith filed a motion to dismiss him from a lawsuit involving the death of Anthony “Tony” Mitchell, whose family claims he was abused while in custody at the county jail, that he was denied medical and mental health treatment for weeks and that, at one point, he was kept in a cold environment for hours before he died at a nearby hospital.

In addition to Smith, Mitchell’s family is also suing Walker County Jail Administrator Justin White, as well as corrections officers Arthur “TJ” Armstrong, Denzel Mitchell, Arcelia Jottie Tidwell, Braxton Kee, Bailey Ganey, Katherine Clingan, Jacob Smith, Jeremy Farley, Richard Holtzman, Benjamin Shoemaker, Morgan Madison, Dayton Wakefield, Joshua Jones, QCHC, Inc. The Mitchells are also suing nurse practitioner Aleisha Herron, nurse Brad Allred and investigator Carl Carpenter.

“It is well-established that Sheriff Smith is a State Constitutional Officer,” attorney Jamie Helen Kidd Frawley wrote in the motion. “He is accordingly entitled to absolute immunity from all claims for damages brought against him in his official capacity pursuant to the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

Frawley went on to say that in his official capacity, Smith is not a “person” subject for lawsuit.

Smith has been sheriff of Walker County since 2019.

 

 

 

[Auburn85 438]

https://www.cbs42.com/alabama-news/defendants-admit-walker-county-inmate-who-died-was-tased-deny-intentionally-placing-him-in-frigid-environment/

 

 

 

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Defendants admit Walker County inmate who died was tased, deny intentionally placing him in frigid environment

 

by: Austin Franklin

Posted: Apr 4, 2023 / 01:20 PM CDT

Updated: Apr 5, 2023 / 05:47 AM CDT

 

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — Defendants in the wrongful death lawsuit of Anthony “Tony” Mitchell admit the inmate was tased while in custody, but deny he was ever intentionally exposed to a frigid environment.

In response to an amended complaint, lawyers for the defendants admit Mitchell was tased, handcuffed and dragged across the jail booking area with stun gun prongs still in him on Jan. 15. The response states Mitchell “had to be dragged because he was combative and refused to walk.”

In the same court filing submitted on Monday, lawyers for the sheriff’s office denied claims corrections officers intentionally exposed Mitchell to a frigid environment by using the prison’s climate control system to blow cold air into his cell.

The amended lawsuit filed by Mitchell’s estate alleged frigid air, intentionally blown into Mitchell’s cell, caused “Mitchell, already stressed by dehydration from receiving no water for over two days, to become severely hypothermic overnight and in the morning hours” of Jan. 26.

Anthony Mitchell was carried by uniformed personnel out of the jail and placed into the backseat of a patrol vehicle to be taken to a hospital the morning of Jan. 26 around 8:54 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Walker Baptist Hospital at 1:15 p.m.

The wrongful death lawsuit includes quotes from Mitchell’s medical records written by an emergency room doctor after Mitchell was transported to the hospital.

“I am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration, but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72° F 22° centigrade while someone is incarcerated in jail,” the doctor’s notes said, according to the federal lawsuit. “The cause of his hypothermia is not clear. It is possible he had an underlying medical condition resulting in hypothermia. I do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment. I do believe that hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death.” 

Attorneys for Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith have submitted a motion to dismiss the sheriff from the wrongful death suit.

“It is well-established that Sheriff Smith is a State Constitutional Officer,” attorney Jamie Helen Kidd Frawley wrote in the motion. “He is accordingly entitled to absolute immunity from all claims for damages brought against him in his official capacity pursuant to the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution.”

 

 

[Mims44 2,033]

43 minutes ago, Auburn85 said:

https://www.cbs42.com/news/crime/lawyers-for-walker-county-sheriff-nick-smith-ask-judge-to-remove-him-from-inmate-death-lawsuit/

 

 

 

 

I don't get this part;

The suit offered the freezer as a plausible explanation of Mitchell's condition after citing notes from an ER doctor who said the inmates body temperature was 72 degrees when he arrived at the hospital and that the likely cause of his death was hypothermia. The response did not seek to challenge the doctor's observations.

"Defendants admit that the medical records state what they state."

 

 

 

 

 

So they don't argue the doctor got the temp wrong of 72 degrees or CoD being hypothermia, but say they did nothing to cause it?

[Auburn85 438]

https://www.wbrc.com/2023/06/23/lawsuit-involving-walker-county-jail-inmate-can-move-forward/

 

 

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Lawsuit involving Walker County Jail inmate can move forward

WALKER COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - A lawsuit involving the death of an inmate at the Walker County Jail can move forward, according to court documents.

New court records show Judge Annemarie Carney Axon denied a motion for a partial stay on the discovery phase in the case, essentially lifting a previously imposed stay.

Attorneys had argued about whether they should wait until all investigations into the death of Walker County inmate Tony Mitchell were finished before continuing court proceedings.

Defendants must file responsive pleadings on or before July 6, 2023.

 

 

[aubiefifty 18,444]

i wonder why the MAGA's are not in here worried about this man. Do you guys he was thrown in the can so he deserved it? i mean gosh he is black and mentally ill? is this correct?

[Auburn85 438]

https://abc3340.com/news/local/tony-mitchell-case-update

 

 

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'Collectively we did it. We killed him': Former jailer guilty plea in Tony Mitchell death

 

by Cynthia Gould

Thu, August 1st 2024 at 3:37 PM

Updated Thu, August 1st 2024 at 10:26 PM

 

A former Walker County corrections officer has agreed to a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's office in connection with the death of Tony Mitchell. More charges are expected to be filed against five unnamed co-conspirators.

 

Joshua Jones will plead guilty to two counts according to federal court filings: Conspiracy to Deprivation of Rights under Color of Law and Deprivation of Rights under Color of Law. Jones faces a possible life in prison sentence. The U.S. Attorney will recommend a reduction in sentence as part of the plea deal "based upon the defendant's apparent prompt recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility."

 

The first count relates to the incarceration of Tony Mithell who died in January of 2023. According to federal court filings Jones watched as Mitchell's condition deteriorated over two weeks. He was 'almost always naked, wet, cold and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket.' By the second week court records note Mitchell was listless and unresponsive.

Two of the unnamed co-conspirators were in supervisory positions at the jail. According to the court record Jones admitted that "collectively we did it. We killed him."

The federal court filings say Mitchell was in obvious need of mental health and medical services while incarcerated. This federal action comes more than a year after Mitchell's death in January of 2023 which gained national attention.

The family is shocked see in writing what they knew happened to Tony Mitchell “Defendant Jones admitted that collectively we did it. We killed him." Goldfarb, Jon C., Mitchell Family Attorney.

ABC 33/40 News has reached out to Sheriff Nick Smith and the U.S. Attorney's office for comment and have not heard back. Jones' attorney declined to comment, only confirming the plea deal.

The second count in the plea agreement is related to the assault on another inmate in Sept. of 2022. The court filing says Jones struck the inmate in the face three times with a can of O.C. spray that he carried with him. False statements were written up about the incident according to the government.

Jones' arraingment is set for August 15th in federal court.

BACKROUND ON THE TONY MITCHELL CASE:

According to documents obtained from the attorney for the family of Tony Mitchell, Mitchell's death was ruled homicide. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences conducted the autopsy. Only the death certificate was released.

Mitchell's cause of death was listed as hypothermia with underlying causes of 'sepsis resulting from infected injuries obtained during incarceration and medical neglect.'

Community activist Ryan Cagle told ABC 33/40 News that the "autopsy reveals what we've known to be true since day one."

"We can't bring Tony back, but we hope justice will be served and everyone will be held accountable," said Cagle.

The FBI and the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation are handling the investigation into Mitchell's death. Neither agency has commented on the case.

Mitchell was arrested Jan. 12, 2023 after a family member called requesting a welfare check due to Mitchell's mental state. The sheriff's department reported Mitchell fired a shot.

Two weeks later Mitchell was transported from the Walker County Jail to Walker Baptist Medical Center's emergency room in a deputy's patrol vehicle.

Jail surveillance video of Mitchell being carried out of the jail appearing unconscious gained national attention. Initial reports in a federal court filing claimed Mitchell had been placed in a freezer. The filing was later modified. Other jail videos show Mitchell being tased and nude while drug across the jail floor. Family questioned why Mitchell was not given more medical and mental help for two weeks.

At the ER staff noted Mitchell was having agonal respirations, breathing two to four times a minute. Medical reports say he was 'unresponsive' and 'pulseless and cold to the touch.' The ER physician noted Mitchell's internal body temperature was 72 degrees.

Mitchell's family has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit. The case is on hold until the criminal investigation is complete.

Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith released the following statement Feb. 29, 2024:

"At the beginning of this situation, I dedicated myself to being as transparent as possible while preserving the fairness and impartiality expected from an outside investigation. As your sheriff, my office immediately requested that the State Bureau of Investigation look into this matter further both verbally and in writing, which is standard protocol since day one. My Office has provided all video footage documenting Mitchell's two-week stay at Walker County Jail along with any other documents required by SBI and the FBI for a comprehensive examination. Recently completed autopsy brings us closer to uncovering truth behind case but due to the ongoing investigations I am unable discuss details right now."

A rally was held outside of the sheriff's office following the release of Mitchell's death certificate, with a crowd of people asking for justice for Mitchell while holding signs and yelling chants directed at Sheriff Smith and law enforcement.