Man convicted of molesting girl, 6, dies during appeal

9-22-2016 Georgia:

A life sentence became a death sentence for 64-year-old Robert “Buddy” Turner.

The Columbus man who maintained his innocence after he was sentenced to life for aggravated child molestation two years ago has died in state custody.

A sister testifying at his sentencing on Jan. 14, 2015, said she feared he would not survive an extended prison sentence. A brother-in-law told Judge William Rumer the case had turned the former construction worker into "an aging, frail, broken man.”

Defense attorneys said Turner’s health declined precipitously in prison, where he did not get the medical care he needed.

On Oct. 20, 2016, authorities brought Turner to Columbus for an Oct. 26 court hearing. As his health worsened, medical workers at the Muscogee County Jail had Turner taken to Columbus’ Midtown Medical Center, which later transferred him to a hospital in Atlanta.

Tomas Beauford might have survived a seizure had Mesa County jailers not taken away his bracelet

1-28-17 Colorado:

A bracelet might have kept Tomas Anderson Beauford alive.

Despite mental and behavioral illnesses that meant the 24-year-old functioned more like a 6-year-old, Beauford had mastered the use of the magnetic bracelet that combatted his epilepsy.

But on April 16, 2014, Beauford didn’t have his bracelet. It had been confiscated by deputies at the Mesa County Jail.

Taking his prescribed medications also might have kept Beauford alive. But in jail without family and caretakers who often cajoled him with promises of Starbursts and Sprite, Beauford hadn’t taken his meds regularly in six weeks when he died.

In the hours before his death, Beauford’s jailers saw him suffering what they would later realize were several violent seizures in his cell. Attorneys representing Beauford’s mother wrote that if deputies had reacted correctly, he might never have died.

“Alone in his cell, Mr. Beauford ultimately had a series of seizures, fell off his bed and died with his head jammed underneath his desk,” the attorneys wrote in a civil lawsuit naming Mesa County and the jail health care providers as defendants last spring. “Mr. Beauford’s demise could have undoubtedly been prevented had defendants provided him with prompt and appropriate medical attention and treatment.”

Sex offender's death could cost Brevard County taxpayers

9-29-2016 Florida:

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - 9 Investigates found out a sex offender in custody at the Brevard County jail could end up costing taxpayers in a lawsuit.

The inmate was rushed to the hospital just weeks before he was set to go to trial for a probation violation.

Investigative reporter Karla Ray tracked down records that could support his family's claims that the symptoms which killed him went untreated.

Charles Jones was convicted of sexual battery against a minor 20 years ago. Jones failed to re-register his address, and that’s what put him back in jail for the last year.

“I'm gonna miss him. His kids gonna miss him,” said brother, Curtis Jones as he began to cry.

The charges against Charles Jones were dismissed in August. He died August 28. Hours earlier he was complaining of severe stomach pain, according to an incident report.

“His bowels had burst. And when his bowels burst, it spread the infection through his blood stream,” said Curtis Jones.

Tennessee inmate asking for hepatitis C treatment dies

See: Inmates with hepatitis C sue Tennessee prison officials for treatment

7-1-2016 Tennessee:

John Bilby knew he didn't have much time left.

But, at least for a few days, it appeared as though the longtime Tennessee inmate and sufferer of hepatitis C might have some hope. Diane Douglas, Bilby's wife, said he was recently told he was at the top of the list to receive the best available treatment for his hepatitis C, a chronic disease that slowly destroys the liver.

Douglas said the day after Bilby told her this, he died.

"He was a very strong man, strong minded. He realized he had done wrong, but with me and him and the chaplain, he realized God would forgive him for it," Douglas told The Tennessean.

"I was with him for 16 years, and he finally made peace with that. He was changing his life around."

Bilby, 66, died this week at Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only, Tenn., about an hour's drive southwest of Nashville. He'd been in prison for more than 27 years on charges of rape, kidnapping and assault. Patricia Lambert, Bilby's sister, said she was told he died due to complications from hepatitis C. But Lambert and Douglas said they can't get anyone to turn over official records that would show his cause of death.

The Tennessean profiled Bilby in a recent series on the pervasiveness of hepatitis C in Tennessee's prison system and the lack of treatment for almost all infected with the potential deadly disease. At the time, state prison officials acknowledged only eight of the 3,487 were receiving treatments that could cure inmates who have hepatitis C. As of Friday, a prison spokeswoman said she had asked the department's chief medical officer for an update as to the number of people infected and the number of people receiving treatment.

1 inmate dead, 3 officers injured at Sullivan Correctional Facility

4-14-2015 New York:

FALLSBURG - An inmate died and three state corrections officers were injured Monday at Sullivan Correctional Facility, according to a spokesman for the corrections officers union.

Details of the incident are scarce, but State Police have confirmed they "responded to the facility Monday morning, following a report of an assault on staff."

One of the injured officers was taken to an urgent care center and two others were taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris, said James Miller, spokesman for the New York State Corrections Officers Police Benevolent Association. One of the officers taken to the hospital suffered a possible broken arm, and both had head injuries, he said.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed the death of the inmate, but would not comment on the involvement or condition of any corrections officers. A spokeswoman would only say that State Police are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of the inmate. That investigation is continuing, State Police said.

The inmate was identified as Karl Taylor, 52, who was serving 27½-to-55 years for sex crimes and aggravated harassment of an employee.

Michael DeWayne Walker: Lawsuit Over Child Rapist's Prison Death Allowed to Continue

See original record HERE

9-12-2011 Texas:

Michael DeWayne Walker was serving a 21-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child when he was put in a cell with Wilbert "Peanut" Hamilton in 2006.

Hamilton beat him to death, and Walker's parents have sued on the grounds that guards and prison officials knew Hamilton was a violent psychotic and that he was allowed to have steel-toed boots in his cell.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees have sought to have the suit dismissed on grounds of immunity, but federal judge Kenneth Hoyt has ruled the parents' claims can be heard.

There's a factual dispute over how long the beating went on -- Walker's parents say it lasted five hours, and guards should absolutely have been able to hear it, while the defendants in the suit say it was only a few minutes.

The guards also say there was no formal policy made clear to them that child-sex offenders should be kept isolated from the general prison population for their safety, or that the steel-toed boots had to be left in the prison work area and not taken into the cell.