Department of Corrections Asking for Outside Help in Death Investigations

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) -An unusually high number of deaths in Mississippi’s Prison System has the Department of Corrections asking for outside help.

Earl Davis, an inmate at South Mississippi Correctional Institute in Leakesville, died Thursday at a hospital in Vicksburg. Davis was the 15th prisoner to die in the Month of August.

MDOC Commissioner Pelicia Hall is now asking the F-B-I and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to help investigate those deaths.

Five of those inmates, including 2 men from Lowndes County, were housed at South Mississippi.

Commissioner Hall believes most of the deaths are due to illnesses or other natural causes, but says she is calling for the outside assistance in the interest of transparency; saying that her administration “is committed to ensuring that all individuals in the department’s care receive appropriate medical care”.