Alabama Jailer pleads guilty in case of incarcerated man who froze to death

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A former corrections officer at an Alabama jail pleaded guilty to criminal charges for his role in the death of a man who died of hypothermia after being held naked in a concrete cell for two weeks. Joshua Conner Jones pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of criminal conspiracy to deprive an inmate of their rights related to the 2023 death of Tony Mitchell, 33, according to federal court records. Jones’ plea agreement included three additional unnamed co-conspirators that allegedly contributed to Mitchell’s death, an indication that more people could be charged. In the two weeks that he was incarcerated, the plea deal describes Mitchell as “almost always naked, wet, cold, and covered in feces while lying on the cement floor without a mat or blanket” and eventually, “listless and mostly unresponsive to questions from officers.” Instead of getting Mitchell medical treatment, Jones and his co-conspirators said that Mitchell “‘gets what he gets since he shot at cops’ or words to that effect,” according to the plea deal. On Jan. 26, 2023, corrections officers finally drove Mitchell to a hospital emergency room, according to the plea document, waiting more than three hours after a nurse insisted that he needed urgent medical attention.