A former jailer is set to plead guilty to a criminal charge over the death of a mentally ill man who froze to death in police custody after being left naked and covered in feces for a fortnight.
Joshua Conner Jones, a former corrections officer at the Walker County Jail in Alabama, has entered into a plea deal, according to court documents, for his treatment of two inmates, including Tony Mitchell.
Mitchell, 33, died on Jan. 26, 2023, after being rushed from his cell to a hospital emergency room with a body temperature of 72 degrees, according to a lawsuit filed in February against the jail by his mother.
The plea agreement stated that Mitchell “was nearly always naked, wet, cold and covered in feces as he lay on the concrete floor without a mat or blanket.”
By the second week of his incarceration, he was “largely apathetic and generally unresponsive to officers’ questions,” but no steps were taken to reduce his suffering.
Tony Mitchell died on January 26 while in custody at the Walker County Jail in Alabama. A former jailer, Joshua Conner Jones, is set to plead guilty to a criminal charge related to his death.
Mitchell was initially arrested on January 13, 2023 after his family members called police and reported his erratic behavior.
Mitchell’s family alleges he was kept naked and locked in a concrete cell while in the Walker County Jail for two weeks after his arrest.
Jones has now agreed to plead guilty to the charge of depriving the inmate of his rights, while also pleading guilty to a separate charge of deprivation of rights related to the assault of another inmate.
The plea agreement suggested there were five people involved in the rights abuse that led to Mitchell’s death.
Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that the former jailer had admitted: “We did it collectively. We killed him.”
Mitchell was initially arrested on January 13, 2023 after his family members called police reporting his erratic behavior.
When officers arrived, they found Mitchell in the front yard and said he immediately pulled out a handgun and fired at least one shot at them.
The man fled into a nearby forest and was hiding in a shed when he was located.
Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that when Mitchell’s deteriorating condition was mentioned, the co-conspirators would respond that “he gets what he gets since he shot the police officers” or words to that effect.
Mitchell was then booked into the Walker County Jail on attempted murder charges.
On the day of his arrest, Mitchell was brought before a judge and was listed as “unable to sign” documents, according to court records.
Earlier this year, a family member said they believed jail would be a safe place for the man.
“We knew he was in jail and we thought it was the safest place for him at the time,” a relative said. “But it turned out to be the worst place for him.”
The distraught family filed a lawsuit against the prison in February.
This is a screenshot from a video inside the Walker County Jail, showing a naked inmate, allegedly Mitchell
The video shows Mitchell being dragged and lifted into a patrol car before being taken to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
The man’s body appeared limp in a video posted by a local media outlet.
Mitchell was booked into the Walker County Jail on attempted murder charges on January 13, 2023.
“This is one of the most egregious cases of prison abuse the country has ever seen,” the family’s 37-page federal lawsuit alleges.
A shocking video of Mitchell being led out of jail on January 26 shows the man being dragged and placed into a patrol vehicle before later being pronounced dead.
The video allegedly contradicts the sheriff’s original statement that Mitchell had a medical issue but had been “alert and responsive” when he was taken to the hospital.
The family’s complaint alleges that staff at Walker Baptist Medical Center spent three hours trying to resuscitate him before he was declared dead.
According to the doctor’s statement, Mitchell’s cause of death is believed to have been hypothermia.
“I’m not sure under what circumstances the patient was incarcerated, but it’s difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72 degrees F, 22 degrees Celsius while someone is incarcerated,” the lawsuit states.
“The cause of his hypothermia is unclear. I don’t know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment. I believe hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death,” he continued.
In their lawsuit, Mitchell’s family claimed he was stripped naked and placed in a concrete solitary confinement cell during his time there.
They also said it took five hours between the time Mitchell was removed from the “freezing environment” and the time he was taken to the hospital.
“The cell lacked a bed and other furniture,” the lawsuit states.
Pictured: The Walker County Jail and Walker County Sheriff’s Office, where Mitchell “froze to death”
‘There was only a drain in the floor that could be used as a toilet. The cell was made of concrete, the equivalent of a dog kennel. But unlike a dog, Tony wasn’t even given a mat to sleep on.’
In a statement following his death, the Walker County Sheriff’s Office released a statement detailing Mitchell’s death in the custody of the law enforcement agency.
“On Thursday, January 27, jail medical staff provided a Walker County Jail inmate with a routine medical checkup,” the statement begins.
‘Medical staff determined that the inmate needed to be transported to the hospital for further evaluation.
‘The inmate was alert and conscious when he left the institution and arrived at the hospital. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, the inmate suffered a medical emergency and became unconscious.
“Hospital staff made life-saving efforts and eventually managed to revive the inmate. Sadly, the inmate passed away shortly after,” the statement concluded.
Following Jones’ plea agreement, Jon C. Goldfarb, an attorney representing the family in the civil litigation, said, “The family is shocked to see in writing what they knew had happened to Tony Mitchell.”
