Two corrections officers plead guilty in death of mentally ill man in Alabama jail

By SAFIYAH RIDDLE The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two corrections officers agreed to plead guilty to federal charges in the case of a mentally ill man who froze to death — marking a total of eight jail employees who have entered plea agreements related to the death.

Federal court records filed on Monday and Tuesday show Daniel Lee Allen Brown agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of deprivation of civil rights under color of law, while Megan Johnson agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of criminal conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights.

Brown and Johnson were corrections officers who worked several shifts over the two-week period in which Tony Mitchell was incarcerated at Walker County Jail, federal court documents said.

The plea deals were filed separately, but both describe a pervasive culture of retaliation against incarcerated people who had previously been accused of violence towards law enforcement. Five other corrections officers have plead guilty to federal charges related to Mitchell’s death, and one nurse contracted by the jail also plead guilty in late October.

Attorneys for Brown and Johnson have not responded to emails seeking comment.

Mitchell, 33, died Jan. 26, 2023. His death certificate lists his cause of death as hypothermia and sepsis from medical neglect.

Mitchell was arrested Jan. 12 after a relative asked for a welfare check on him. The sheriff’s office said at the time that Mitchell was talking about portals to hell and asserted that he had fired a weapon at officers. When he arrived at the jail, Mitchell was disoriented, had trouble standing and walking, and his face was painted blue, prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement.

Mitchell was held in a concrete cell sometimes referred to as the jail’s “drunk tank,” with no bedding, bathroom or running water. Previous court documents described Mitchell as “almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket.” Eventually, he became mostly unresponsive to officers.

Johnson falsely claimed that Mitchell was “too combative” for medical attention, and denied a nurse access to Mitchell, according to her plea deal. Johnson said that her mischaracterization of Mitchell was an “excuse to mistreat” him.

The court filing described at least one instance in 2022 where Johnson said leadership “encouraged jailers to use excessive force on inmates in the future to exert dominance over the inmates.” Johnson also described another instance where an officer bragged about punching an inmate who had tried to escape until he bled.

Johnson did not raise her concerns over Mitchell’s well-being with anyone for fear of looking “soft” and because she wanted to be “one of the boys,” the court document said.

Separately, Brown’s plea deal said that he expressed concerns about Mitchell’s conditions to a superior at the jail, who then raised those concerns to the shift captain. The plea deal did not identify either employee by name.

But when Mitchell’s conditions remained the same, Brown “sought to avoid scrutiny from Jail managers by joining others in the jail who permitted (Mitchell) to suffer from the cruel conditions under which he was housed.”

Brown did not to take “reasonable steps” to save Mitchell, despite his clear, life-threatening conditions, the plea deal said.

Both defendants are set to be arraigned in mid-December.

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Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.