According to multiple reports received by EJI, Jeffery Floyd, 45, died by suicide by hanging in a cell at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, on May 1. Mr. Floyd reportedly had been diagnosed with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He sought help from correctional officers the night before his death but received no assistance.
Mr. Floyd’s death by suicide came just weeks before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the “staggering” number of deaths by suicide in Alabama’s prisons are “due largely in part to the Department of Corrections’ deliberate indifference to the serious mental healthcare needs of its inmates in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
The Eleventh Circuit upheld the district court’s ruling that the Alabama Department of Corrections’s practices, including regularly failing to properly monitor suicidal inmates and sending acutely suicidal inmates to largely unmonitored segregation cells with access to tie off points “produce a mental-health care system that was ‘horrendously inadequate’ when taken as a whole.”
Despite these legal victories there is still great concern that these tragic deaths will continue in part because state officials seem unmotivated to take these deaths seriously and even deny the widespread problem. The Eleventh Circuit noted this pattern when it rejected ADOC’s argument that the district court’s finding was invalidated by changes in circumstances. The appeals court found that ADOC had made no significant changes. Instead, ADOC has demonstrated “a long history of failing to comply with the remedial orders in this case” and making misrepresentations to the court.
Misrepresentations made by ADOC continue to delay life saving remedies. ADOC is required to file monthly reports with the district court on restrictive housing unit trends. In April, ADOC told the court that its concern about mentally ill people suffering harm in solitary confinement or so-called “restrictive housing units,” was unfounded. Because “no inmate with SMI [serious mental illness] has died by suicide in an ADOC RHU in nearly six years,” ADOC asserted, its treatment of people with mental illness in segregation is adequate.
But a closer review paints a darker picture.
In just six months in 2024, the following men died in restrictive housing. Each had a history of mental health issues and was showing signs of being in a mental health crisis at the time of his death:
- Clinton Bridges, 40, died in a suicide watch cell in the infirmary at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama, on September 14, 2024. According to an autopsy report, Mr. Bridges had been on suicide watch since September 11 when he told staff to “just let him die.” He refused to eat and although he was force-fed over the next three days, his body weight dropped below 100 pounds. Infirmary staff also reported that Mr. Bridges “was crawling around in the cell and was beating his head against the wall and running into the wall.” ADOC reported Mr. Bridges’s death was an “overdose,” but the autopsy stated that the cause of death was “inanition” (exhaustion due to starvation).
- Coron Abdullah, 33, died in a restrictive housing cell in the infirmary at Donaldson on August 14, 2024. The coroner’s report stated that he had been assigned to a “Mental Health Unit” at Donaldson when he became “extremely dehydrated.” On August 13, Mr. Abdullah “became incoherent and [was] acting very erratic,” and an officer who had come to move him out of the infirmary “saw feces all over the cell walls and [that] the decedent was speaking incoherently.” By the time the officer notified a captain and returned, Mr. Abdullah was dead. His death has not yet been reported in ADOC’s statistical reports.
- Timothy Johnson, 40, died at St. Clair Correctional Facility on August 3, 2024. Mr. Johnson had been the victim of repeated assaults while incarcerated and was reportedly being held in solitary confinement after coming off of suicide watch. A toxicology screen completed after his death found the presence of antipsychotic medication, a synthetic cannabinoid, and fentanyl in his bloodstream. ADOC did not authorize an autopsy and reported no cause of his death
- Demetrise Maye, 29, died in a single-man cell at Donaldson on May 2, 2024. A coroner’s report stated Mr. Maye was being treated for depression. Five days before he died, he overdosed twice but was revived. ADOC classified his death as “accidental/overdose” due to fentanyl.
Deaths in solitary confinement are inherently suspect. As the district court noted, placing people in restrictive housing without adequate monitoring:
[P]revents people who need treatment from accessing it, stops those whose mental health is deteriorating from being caught before they lapse into psychosis or suicidality, and fosters an environment of danger, anxiety, and violence that constantly assaults the psychological stability of people with mental illness in ADOC custody.
And yet few of these deaths are investigated. ADOC has not reported a cause of death or failed to conduct an autopsy for more than a quarter of the 277 deaths that occurred in Alabama prisons in 2024. EJI’s research indicates that a number of those deaths occurred in restrictive housing cells. With more complete information, the true rate of suicides inside Alabama’s prisons may prove to be far higher.
Facts Only
* Jeffery Floyd, 45, died by suicide by hanging in a cell at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, on May 1.
* Mr. Floyd reportedly had diagnoses of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
* Mr. Floyd sought help from correctional officers the night before his death but received no assistance.
* The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the number of suicide deaths in Alabama prisons is due largely to the Department of Corrections’ deliberate indifference to inmate mental healthcare needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
* The Eleventh Circuit upheld a ruling finding that Alabama Department of Corrections' practices, including failing to monitor suicidal inmates and placing acutely suicidal inmates in unmonitored segregation cells with access to tie-off points, produce a mentally health care system that was "horrendously inadequate."
* The Department of Corrections has required to file monthly reports on restrictive housing unit trends.
* In April, the Department of Corrections stated its concern about mental health suffering in solitary confinement was unfounded, noting no inmate with SMI has died by suicide in an ADOC RHU in nearly six years.
* Six deaths occurred in restrictive housing in 2024: Clinton Bridges (September 14, 2024), Coron Abdullah (August 14, 2024), Timothy Johnson (August 3, 2024), Demetrise Maye (May 2, 2024), and one additional unnamed death based on the stated statistics.
* Autopsy reports noted causes of death for some inmates, including inanition for Bridges and overdose due to fentanyl for Maye.
Executive Summary
Jeffery Floyd, 45, died by suicide by hanging in a cell at Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama, on May 1. Mr. Floyd reportedly had a diagnosis of severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He sought assistance from correctional officers the night before his death but received no help. This death occurred just weeks before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that numerous suicide deaths in Alabama prisons result from the Department of Corrections' indifference to inmates' mental healthcare needs, violating the Eighth Amendment.
The Eleventh Circuit upheld a district court ruling finding that the Alabama Department of Corrections’ practices, such as failing to properly monitor suicidal inmates and placing acutely suicidal individuals in unmonitored segregation cells with access to tie-off points, create a "horrendously inadequate" mental-health care system. Despite these legal findings, concerns remain that state officials are unmotivated to address this systemic issue. The Department of Corrections has offered justifications for its treatment of mentally ill inmates in segregation, asserting that no inmate with serious mental illness has died by suicide in restrictive housing in nearly six years.
A review of recent deaths in restrictive housing during 2024 reveals concerning circumstances. Specific cases include Clinton Bridges, who died from inanition after being force-fed, Coron Abdullah, who died from dehydration while in a mental health unit, Timothy Johnson, who had fentanyl and other substances in his system, and Demetrise Maye, who overdosed twice before dying. These events raise questions regarding the investigation of deaths in solitary confinement, as placing individuals without adequate monitoring can foster an environment of danger and anxiety for those with mental illness.
Full Take
The narrative pivots between legally established systemic failure and documented, tragic individual outcomes. The core tension lies between the formal judicial recognition of institutional neglect—that practices create a "horrendously inadequate" system—and the operational reality within correctional facilities where specific deaths occur without adequate investigative follow-through. This juxtaposition reveals a critical gap: legal mandates do not automatically translate into effective administrative action or accountability.
The repeated assertion by the Department of Corrections that their segregation policies are adequate, based on statistical silence regarding suicides in restrictive housing, functions as a mechanism to resist scrutiny. This strategy actively erases patterns of localized danger for which there is no public record, effectively prioritizing institutional perception over documented human suffering. The deaths detailed—involving starvation, dehydration, and exposure to potent substances like fentanyl—are not isolated incidents but symptomatic evidence of the stated failure: restrictive housing acts as an environment where mental health crises escalate violently, leading to fatalities that are often categorized dismissively as "accidental" or "overdose" by the administration.
The pattern suggests that accountability is intentionally diffused. By failing to report causes of death or conduct autopsies for a significant portion of prison deaths, the system preserves an illusion of control and normalcy while allowing tragic outcomes to occur in what the court system has already deemed inherently dangerous. The inquiry must move beyond asserting the existence of systemic failure to demand transparent investigation into the specific conditions under which these recorded deaths occurred. What procedures are in place to ensure that concerns about mental health escalating in segregation are prioritized over administrative silence? What structural changes must be enacted to shift the focus from defending policy adequacy to ensuring immediate, transparent safeguarding of life within those walls?