MONTGOMERY, Ala. \u2014 A former corrections officer at an Alabama jail has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal charge in the death of a mentally ill man who died of hypothermia after being held naked in a concrete cell for two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal court records show that Joshua Conner Jones entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors regarding the treatment of two inmates at the Walker County jail. Jones agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights related to the 2023 death of Tony Mitchell. He also pleaded guilty to a separate rights-deprivation count related to the assault of another inmate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plea agreement indicated there were five co-conspirators in the mistreatment that led to Mitchell\u2019s death, an indication that the investigation is ongoing and more people could be charged in the death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A defense lawyer for Jones, W Scott Brower, said he could not comment on the agreement. Court documents did not name the inmate who died, but Bower confirmed the charge was related to Mitchell\u2019s 2023 death. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney\u2019s office did not immediately return an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitchell, 33, died on Jan. 26, 2023, after being brought from the jail to a hospital emergency room with a body temperature of 72 degrees, according to a lawsuit filed by his mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plea agreement said that Mitchell \u201cwas almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket.\u201d By the second week of incarceration, he was \u201clargely listless and mostly unresponsive to questions from officers,\u201d but that the conspirators did not take action to alleviate his suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that Jones admitted that \u201ccollectively we did it. We killed him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jon C. Goldfarb, an attorney representing the family in the civil litigation, said \u201cthe family is shocked to see in writing what they knew happened to Tony Mitchell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mitchell, who had a history of drug addiction, was arrested Jan. 12 after a cousin asked authorities to do a welfare check on him because he was rambling about portals to heaven and hell in his home and appeared to be suffering a mental breakdown. The Walker County sheriff\u2019s office posted a photo on its Facebook page<\/a>, adding that Mitchell, who had his face painted black, \u201cbrandished a handgun, and fired at least one shot at deputies\u201d before running into the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that when Mitchell\u2019s deteriorating condition would be mentioned, the co-conspirators would reply that \u201d \u2018he gets what he gets since he shot at cops\u2019 or words to that effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n