This is The Marshall Project - Jackson’s newsletter, a monthly digest of criminal justice news from around Mississippi gathered by our staff of local journalists. Want this delivered to your inbox? Sign up for future newsletters.
Amid a yearslong court battle, a federal court-appointed receiver took control of the troubled Hinds County jail. Also, read more on our investigation into Mississippi’s deadly prisons, where at least 43 people have been killed in the past decade. - Daja E. Henry
New leadership for Raymond Detention Center
Hinds County’s long-troubled Raymond Detention Center is now under the control of a court-appointed receiver.
Wendell M. France Sr. took control on Wednesday of a facility that is severely understaffed and rife with violence, dysfunction and inhumane conditions.
At least six people have died there this year, deaths that included a homicide, a drug overdose and another suspected drug overdose. In one unit, almost all of the windows are broken. Nearly half of the facility’s cameras are inoperable. And many detainees are sleeping on the floor.
The receivership is part of a legal battle that provides a rare look into a county jail in a state where jails are not subject to any inspection or regulation, as a team of court-appointed monitors has produced 19 public reports on its operations and failings.
Read more in The Marshall Project - Jackson’s latest story.
District attorney forgets to prosecute prison murder
John Lowe was beaten to death in a prison shower in Marshall County Correctional Facility in 2021. The beating was caught on camera, and county prosecutors had the evidence to pursue a murder charge against the suspect, Terry McCline.
The problem? McCline was never served the indictment and, therefore, never faced trial.
The case was effectively forgotten until three years later, when a reporter called. Read the story, the latest in our investigation into Mississippi’s deadly prisons.
After 43 prison killings, what will be done?
Following our investigation into killings in Mississippi prisons, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain said the department will reexamine all homicides in the state’s prison system since 2015.
“We’re going back to visit all that to be sure that we haven’t left any stone unturned,” Cain said.
Our investigation found 42 deaths before publication, and then one more afterward. Only seven people have been convicted in these killings. The killings are the culmination of long-documented festering problems: chronic understaffing, lax oversight, gangs who rule by violence and delays in treating life-threatening injuries.
Reporters from The Marshall Project - Jackson, Mississippi Today, Clarion Ledger, Hattiesburg American and The Mississippi Link spent nearly a year investigating these homicides in Mississippi prisons. To read all of the stories in our series, click here.
Reporters Daja E. Henry and Mina Corpuz also answered readers’ questions on Reddit last week. Check out the conversation here.
Also in the news
Jackson City Council passes unenforceable curfew ordinance, again. The curfew ordinance, introduced by Councilman Kenneth Stokes, passed unanimously. The Marshall Project - Jackson previously reported that the city cannot enforce youth curfews, and there’s no evidence that curfews prevent violent crime. Mississippi Today
JPD Chief search underway. The city of Jackson hosted a series of listening sessions where residents could express what they want in a new police chief. At the first listening session, many speakers expressed skepticism about hiring an outsider. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones is serving as interim chief. Clarion Ledger
FBI, U.S. attorney general reviewing Delta State hanging. The hanging death of 21-year-old Demartravion “Trey” Reed sparked public speculation of a lynching. Though his death was ruled a suicide and no foul play was suspected, Reed’s family is seeking an independent investigation. Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick is funding an independent autopsy. Mississippi Free Press
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