Murderous Alabama Prisons
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The criminal justice system just keeps on giving.
An Alabama inmate died after being “baked” to death in a sweltering prison cell described as “hotter than three hells,” his family alleged in a federal wrongful death lawsuit.
Thomas Lee Rutledge, 44, died of hyperthermia on Dec. 7, 2020, in the mental health ward at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, according to a lawsuit filed by his sister in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Alabama.Rutledge was found unresponsive with a body temperature of 109 degrees in a cell reported to be between 101 to 104 degrees, the suit said, citing the Jefferson County Coroner’s report.
The amended complaint filed Nov. 30 accused prison staff, wardens and contractors —defendants in the lawsuit — who worked on the heating and boiler system at the facility of “deliberate indifference and malice” in his death.
The lawsuit alleged that the Donaldson facility had a new air conditioning system and controls installed in 2019 and 2020.T Unit, the mental health ward where Rutledge was held, was not included in the project, according to the lawsuit. It’s unclear if any other wards or areas were left out of the project. However, during the renovations, HVAC company P&M Mechanical, a defendant, and its subcontractors “negligently or wantonly damaged or destroyed the thermostatic controls for T Unit,” the lawsuit alleged.
We’ll see if anyone is held responsible for this murder.