A Man In Police Custody Died After Being Locked In A Kitchen Freezer, His Family Says In A Lawsuit

An Alabama man died in police custody after he was allegedly locked in a kitchen freezer as punishment, the man’s family says in its lawsuit against the police department.

Anthony Don Mitchell, 33, was arrested on January 12 after Walker County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputies received a call from a person identified as a concerned family member, who said Mitchell had been making statements indicating he could harm himself or others, WBRC reported. According to the WCSO Mitchell was found in the front yard, and he appeared to be pointing a handgun at deputies as soon as they arrived. Mitchell allegedly opened fire on deputies immediately and fled into the woods behind his home.

Multiple agencies worked together to secure the area. Mitchell was eventually taken into custody and charged with attempted murder. Deputies said that they also found heroin and methamphetamine at the house.

Mitchell was held under police arrest when an incident occurred and he was taken into hospital. According to his family, he was subject to a beating. “hours of neglect” He was then locked in a walkin freezer “or similar frigid environment” in the jail’s kitchen as punishment for his behavior, WIAT reported.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to WBRC that Mitchell had been taken to the hospital on January 26 and “became unresponsive at the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.” Attorneys for his mother, however, released security camera footage from the jail showing officers carrying Mitchell’s body out of the facility to an awaiting vehicle. Mitchell is not seen in the footage.

“This is one of the most appalling cases of jail abuse the country has seen,” According to WIAT the federal lawsuit was 37 pages long. “On the night of January 25 to January 26, 2023, Anthony Don Mitchell (“Tony”) froze to death while incarcerated at the Walker County Jail.”

Mitchell’s death, the complaint adds, “raises an appalling question: how does a man literally freeze to death while incarcerated in a modern, climate-controlled jail, in the custody and care of corrections officers?”

Mitchell is also accused in the lawsuit. “likely… placed in a restraint chair in the jail kitchen’s walk-in freezer or similar frigid environment and left there for hours.”

Mitchell’s treatment only came to light after a correctional officer released footage. Jon Goldfarb, the attorney representing Mitchell’s family, said that officer Later, it was fired. Local media outlets received surveillance footage showing his body being released from the prison.

WIAT reported that the video contradicted an earlier claim made by the WCSO about Mitchell. “alert and conscious” He was transferred to a local hospital after he had left jail.

“I am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72° F 22° centigrade while someone is incarcerated in jail,” According to the lawsuit, a doctor in an emergency room wrote notes. “The cause of his hypothermia is not clear. It is possible he had an underlying medical condition resulting in hypothermia. I do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment. I do believe that hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death.”

Mitchell was reportedly naked while incarcerated in additional surveillance video images. His family’s lawsuit said he was kept in a concrete isolation cell, like “a dog kennel,” During his two weeks in prison.

“The cell lacked a bed or other furnishing,” The lawsuit states. “There was only a drain in the floor that could be used as a toilet. The cell was bare cement, the equivalent of a dog kennel. But unlike a dog, Tony was not even given a mat to sleep on.”

Mitchell’s death is being investigated by state police.