A mentally ill man froze to death at an Alabama jail, according to a lawsuit filed by the man's family, who say he was kept naked in a concrete cell and believe he was also placed in a freezer or other frigid place.
“It is clear that Tony’s death was wrongful, the result of horrific, malicious abuse and mountains of deliberate indifference,” Jon C. Goldfarb, a lawyer representing the family, wrote in the lawsuit. “Numerous corrections officers and medical staff wandered over to his open cell door to spectate and be entertained by his condition.”
The lawsuit also accuses the sheriff’s office of a cover-up. The sheriff’s office issued a statement after the death saying Mitchell “was alert and conscious when he left the facility.” Jail security footage provided to The Associated Press by lawyers for Mitchell’s mother shows officers carrying Mitchell’s limp body to a transport car, then putting him on the ground before placing him in the car.
The photo shows Mitchell’s face is painted black. According to the lawsuit, officers told a family member that Mitchell said he spray painted his own face black in preparation to enter the portal to hell. An officer told family members they planned “to detox him and then ‘we’ll see how much of his brain is left,’ or words to that effect,” according to the suit.
“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 cause of his hypothermia is not clear. It is possible he had a underlying medical condition resulting in hypothermia. I do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment,” the lawsuit quotes the doctor as writing.
Cameron Mixon, a spokesperson for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, said the office is aware of the matter and it’s “being investigated by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” He said the office will ensure that any appropriate action is taken after the investigation is complete.The allegations of death by hypothermia come as the state prison system also faces a lawsuit over the death of a mentally ill man whoin an overheated prison cell.
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