Newsbreak: Alabama Inmate Dies of Hypothermia After Alleged Abuse by Jail Officials

Alabama inmate Anthony “Tony” Mitchell, 33, died on January 26 in Walker County Jail due to hypothermia, according to a new federal lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that Mitchell was forced into a freezer or other frigid location for hours as punishment by jail officials. The complaint alleges that the officers placed Mitchell in a restraint chair in the jail kitchen’s walk-in freezer and left him there to die.

Photos in the lawsuit show Mitchell appearing limp in various areas of the jail. According to a report by Fox News on February 14, 2023, the lawsuit also claims that as Mitchell died of hypothermia, jail staff “wandered over to his open cell door to spectate and be entertained by his condition.”

The physician who examined Mitchell found It is difficult to understand how someone in jail could have a rectal temperature of 72 °F (22 °C). The cause of his hypothermia was not clear, but the physician believed hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death. Mitchell’s mother has filed a lawsuit against Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith, 10 corrections officers, two nurses, and one investigator.

The complaint alleges that the jail officials violated Mitchell’s civil rights and ultimately ended his life by “improperly training, re-training, instructing, supervising, [and] disciplining” jail officers. The Walker County Jail has declined to comment on the lawsuit.