Death Capital Report
In 2024, there were 277 deaths in Alabama Prisons. Never before have we known the demographic data, stories, and causes behind these deaths. Here’s what we found.
Below are five shocking accounts along with a exclusive data on deaths in Alabama prisons.
ADOC Staff Contribute To Deaths
In 2019, ADOC’s own staff members reported to the DOJ that ‘without a doubt’ the number one-way contraband is getting into prison is by staff smuggling it in. During just three months in 2024, over 50,000 grams of illegal drugs were found in ADOC facilities. By November 2024, 38 ADOC staff members had been arrested for contraband. The failure of ADOC to accurately document causes of death limits the ability of policymakers to fully understand the deadly effects of contraband within its system.
No Accountability, No Answers
Deandre Roney was planning to celebrate his 40th birthday and the holidays at home with his family in November 2024. Instead, Mr. Roney was one of four people who died at William C. Donaldson Correctional Facility via stabbing. At the time of his death, Mr. Roney was set to be released from prison in just 150 days.
A Prison Sentence is a Death Sentence
At just 31 years old, Chase Mathis died at Elmore Correctional Facility on June 4, 2024. Before Mr. Mathis’s incarceration, he had battled an addiction to prescription pain pills. He never received treatment or addiction counseling within ADOC. Mr. Mathis, who was wheelchair-bound, also did not receive regular access to meals. Mr. Mathis was suspected to have died by someone intentionally giving him a fatal cocktail of drugs.
After Death, Organs Go Missing
In 2024, as the families of Charles Singleton, Brandon Dotson, Kelvin Moore, and too many others prepared to lay their loved ones to rest, they were confronted with an unfathomable reality: the internal organs of their family members were removed and retained without consent during autopsies. Charles Singleton died in 2021 at age 74, while serving his sentence at the Hamilton Aged and Infirmed Center. When his daughter received his body, he had decomposed, and his organs were missing - never to be recovered.
Death (and carceral) Capital Of The World
Alabama is internationally known for its rates of incarceration. As of 2024, with an incarceration rate of 898 per 100,000 residents, Alabama locked up a higher percentage of its people than any independent democratic country on earth.
Based on this report, we recommend that the Alabama Department of Corrections:
-
Amend Alabama state law to require ADOC to conduct autopsies of all individuals who die while in ADOC custody, including those who die from suspected overdoses or natural deaths. Families should not have to choose between their loved ones being returned with all their organs intact and receiving answers about their cause of death.
-
ADOC provide definitions for cause of death categorization and the methodology utilized to categorize deaths publicly on their website.
-
ADOC return to monthly statistical reporting for increased transparency.
-
ADOC be required to provide an annual report on deaths in custody, which must include the total number of deaths for each calendar year, the causes of death, the number of open investigations, the average time of investigation, and accompanying demographic information for those who died in custody.