Second jailer to plead guilty in Alabama inmate's hypothermia death

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A second Alabama jailer has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for her “minimal role” in the death of a mentally ill man who died of hypothermia after being held naked in a concrete cell.

Federal court records filed Friday show that Karen Kelly has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of deprivation of rights under color of law. According to the plea agreement, Kelly was concerned cell conditions posed a serious threat to the man’s well-being but did not alert authorities, other than her supervisor, because she feared retaliation.

Tony Mitchell, 33, died on Jan. 26, 2023, after being brought from the Walker County Jail to a hospital emergency room in severe medical distress. His death certificate listed his cause of death as hypothermia and sepsis from medical neglect. The concrete cell, which was sometimes referred to as the jail’s drunk tank, “was notoriously cold during winter months and the temperature on the bare cement floor was even colder,” according to the plea agreement. For much of the time Mitchell was housed naked, without a mat or blanket, according to the document.

Kelly had twice asked if Mitchell could be given a blanket or a mat but was told a member of the command staff had insisted that Mitchell “remain under those conditions,” according to the plea agreement.

“My client has accepted full responsibility for her minimal role in this tragic death,” Kelly’s defense lawyer Brett Bloomston wrote in a statement emailed to The Associated Press.

“The culture of the Walker County jail was such that she could do little to help this inmate without fear of reprisal. She sincerely hopes that this tragedy leads to new policies and procedures to protect those who are housed in the jail.”

After Mitchell died, Kelly leaked video showing that Mitchell was carried unconscious out of the jail, according to a civil lawsuit she filed. Her attorney wrote in the lawsuit that she released the video so the “truth of what happened to Mitchell would not go to his grave with him.” Kelly was later fired from the jail.

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’s office posted a photo on its Facebook page, adding that Mitchell, who had his face painted black, “brandished a handgun, and fired at least one shot at deputies” before running into the woods.

He died two weeks after his arrest.

Kelly is the second jailer to agree to plead guilty in Mitchell’s death. Joshua Conner Jones agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights.

Prosecutors wrote in Jones’ plea agreement that when Mitchell’s deteriorating condition would be mentioned, the co-conspirators would reply that “‘he gets what he gets since he shot at cops’ or words to that effect.”

The plea agreement indicated there were five co-conspirators in the mistreatment that led to Mitchell’s death, an indication that the investigation is ongoing, and more people could be charged in the death.