A new document in a wrongful death lawsuit claims that guards intentionally blew frigid air into the cell of inmate Anthony Mitchell at an Alabama jail, leading to his death due to hypothermia. The amended complaint, filed by Mitchell’s mother and reviewed by Insider, alleges that correctional officers deliberately caused extremely cold air to blow through the roof vents of Mitchell’s cell on the nights of January 25 and January 26, leading to his death.
According to the lawsuit, Mitchell had been incarcerated for 14 days in “hellish conditions” before being carried out of his cell on January 26. When he was taken to a local hospital, his internal body temperature was 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and staff spent more than three hours unsuccessfully trying to revive him before he was pronounced dead.
The lawsuit alleges that the outside temperature on the nights Mitchell was in his cell was in the “low thirties Fahrenheit,” meaning that blowing outside air into his cell would have made it “frigid.” The cell, BK5, is referred to by both inmates and staffers as “the freezer,” according to the lawsuit, as guards are known to subject inmates to extremely cold temperatures there. The lawsuit asserts that this was the coldest cell in the jail.
Insider has attempted to contact the Walker County Jail for comment on the matter.
