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Nearly 50 people have died by suicide in solitary confinement units in Mississippi prisons since 2015. New reporting from The Marshall Project, Mississippi Today and The Clarion Ledger examines the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ practices that leave vulnerable prisoners in units known to increase risk of suicide. Plus, hundreds of 911 calls to Raymond Detention Center reveal systemic issues. — Caleb Bedillion and Daja E. Henry
What 911 calls reveal about Hinds County’s Raymond Detention Center
In 2025, Hinds County’s Raymond Detention Center called 911 twice each day, on average.
People called about assaults, fires and most frequently for something called a jail walkthrough. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones declined to explain what a jail walkthrough entails, stating that he would not comment on security measures.
Marshall Project reporters in Cleveland, St. Louis and Jackson, Mississippi, obtained 911 call logs from each local jail. These logs provide an inside look at the types of crises these jails cannot handle on their own.
When a jail consistently makes emergency calls for outside help, it suggests that larger, systemic problems are likely going unaddressed, said Michele Deitch, a former Texas prison monitor and director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas-Austin.
Dozens of suicides in Mississippi solitary confinement units
Denise Short, 21, asked to be put on suicide watch while incarcerated at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in 2024. Instead, she was placed in solitary confinement and locked behind a steel door with a narrow sliver for a window. She hanged herself with her state-issued bedsheet.
She was one of at least 66 people who died by suicide in Mississippi prisons between 2015 and 2025. Nearly 75% of them were in solitary confinement.
Solitary confinement is especially harmful to people with mental illnesses, said Terry Kupers, a forensic psychiatrist and nationally recognized expert on solitary confinement. It is often used to warehouse incarcerated people whom corrections staff consider to be difficult, and don’t know how to handle, he said.
A team of reporters from The Marshall Project, Mississippi Today and The Clarion Ledger investigated suicides in solitary confinement in Mississippi prisons.
The investigation revealed how the state continues to place vulnerable prisoners in solitary confinement despite an abundance of evidence that the practice increases the likelihood of suicides and worsens existing mental illnesses. Many of those who died had a history of mental illness or self harm.
Solitary confinement has lasting effects. They spent years there.
Quintez Hodges spent 20 years in solitary confinement on death row at Mississippi State Penitentiary. His death sentence was vacated, but he did not live to tell the story. While awaiting resentencing, he was found hanging in his cell.
“This is not a fucking suicide. They were killing this man,” said Joesph Patri Brown, who is also on death row.
Danny Austin spent four years in solitary confinement at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. He took blood pressure medicine to sleep through the days, as he listened to the sounds of other incarcerated men banging on the walls. He has been out of prison for over a decade now.
Olander Dedeaux has been in a special solitary confinement unit at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility since Dec. 18, 2025 and is expected to be there for months. He spends most of his days sleeping.
The United Nations and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care both state that solitary confinement should never exceed 15 days. The U.S. Department of Justice found that at one Mississippi prison men were held in solitary confinement for an average of 515 days.
A team of reporters from The Marshall Project, Mississippi Today and The Clarion Ledger detailed the experiences of these three men who spent years in units described by the Justice Department as “breeding grounds for suicide, self-inflicted injury, fires, and assaults.”
Also in the news
Prosecutor pleads guilty. Two weeks before a scheduled trial on federal bribery and corruption charges, Jody Owens, the now-former district attorney of Hinds County, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy. He resigned from office as of Wednesday. That creates a vacancy in the office of prosecutor in Mississippi’s highest-population county and gives Gov. Tate Reeves an opportunity to appoint a temporary replacement. Mississippi Today TMP Context: Following his indictment on charges that involved campaign finance reports, Owens first failed to file a mandatory campaign finance report and then finally submitted one rife with errors. The Marshall Project
Mailed ballots get a reprieve, for now. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law that allows absentee ballots returned by mail to be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive no later than five business days after an election. Even though it survived scrutiny by the nation’s highest court, some Republicans in the state are calling to repeal the grace period for mailed ballots. SCOTUSblog TMP Context: Mississippi allows some people held in prison or jail to vote, even while behind bars. It’s hard to do so, however, and losing some of the time allowed for mailed ballots would make it harder. The Marshall Project
Promoting public defense. In a column, Mississippi State Public Defender André de Gruy says that improving public defense can save the state and local governments money and curb the growing prison population. “What Mississippi needs is a state-level mandate establishing clear, enforceable standards that apply in every jurisdiction.” Mississippi Today
Senatobia officer shoots 1-year-old; community demands answers. Kohen Wiley was in a car with his mother and one other woman in a Walmart parking lot when a police officer fired into the car, killing him. A statement by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety alleges one of the women was driving toward the officer. Wiley’s mother denies that, saying the car was going in the opposite direction. The family has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump. In a press conference, Crump said he is commissioning an independent autopsy and demanding that body camera footage be released. Mississippi Free Press Marchers gathered in a demonstration last week to demand answers. Mississippi Today
Secret courts. Records in Mississippi youth courts are completely secret. There has been a law on the books that contained some exceptions, including for attorneys representing parents. That law was set to expire on July 1, but the Mississippi Office of State Public Defender is suing to ensure that key people involved in youth court matters can access and share information. Mississippi Today
