Alabama

Alabama man jailed in ‘the freezer’ died of homicide due to hypothermia, records show

Published

2 years ago

March 4, 2024

Alabama man jailed in ‘the freezer’ died of homicide due to hypothermia, records show

An Alabama inmate with “serious mental and psychiatric needs” was placed in a concrete drunk tank known as “the freezer” before he later died from hypothermia in a death now ruled a homicide, state records show.

Anthony Don Mitchell died Jan. 26, 2023, while in the custody of the Walker County Sheriff’s Department after “spending fourteen days incarcerated under horrendous conditions” at the Walker County Jail, according to an amended complaint filed in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

The jail is in the city of Jasper about 40 miles northwest of Birmingham.

According to the 53-page suit filed by his mother, Margaret Mitchell, corrections officers at the jail purposely exposed her 33-year-old son to freezing temperatures in the tank over a 24-period.

The suit, filed last February, also” claims they denied Mitchell medication, medical treatment and access to water or a toilet.

Mitchell’s death certificate, obtained by USA TODAY, shows he died as a result of hypothermia as well as “sepsis resulting from infections injuries obtained during incarceration and medical neglect.”

On Monday, Walker County Coroner Joey Vick told USA TODAY Mitchell’s death has been ruled a homicide.

“Tony’s death was wrongful, the result of horrific, malicious abuse and mountains of deliberate indifference, “Jon Goldfarb, an attorney representing Mitchell’s family, wrote in the suit.

As of Monday, no criminal charges had been filed against any off the defendants, Goldfarb told USA TODAY.

Sheriff, officers and nurses named defendants

The suit names defendants including Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith, jail Administrator Justin White, more than a dozen jail correction officers, a nurse practitioner, a nurse and an investigator.

Randy McNeill, an attorney representing the sheriff and the corrections officers told USA TODAY he could not comment on the case “because of the ongoing investigation.”

Attorneys for the remaining defendants could not immediately be reached, but according to a motion filed in response to the compliant, the sheriff’s office and its affiliated parties deny the allegations.

“The defendants do not think they did anything wrong,” Goldfarb told USA TODAY Monday via email.

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‘Portals to heaven and portals to hell’

According to the lawsuit, Mitchell lived “in complete isolation’ and suffered from “serious medical and psychiatric needs including but not limited to severe drug addiction, psychosis, and malnourishment.”

At the time of his death, Mitchell was being held at the jail after being arrested during a welfare check, when shots were fired at deputies as they were called to Mitchell’s home for what family members believed to be “a mental break down.”

On the day he was taken to jail, a cousin called 911 for help, the suit continues, because Mitchell was in serious need of psychiatric help, “spouting delusions about portals to heaven and portals to hell.”

When deputies arrived at the home, the suit reads, Mitchell brandished a handgun, fired one shot towards officers then fled into nearby woods.

A black spray painted face

When deputies found Mitchell in the woods, his face was covered with a black substance, the suit continues.

When he arrived at the jail, Mitchell’s cousin noticed his face and asked corrections Officer Arthur Armstrong, one of the defendants named in the suit, what happened.

Armstrong, the suit says, told the cousin Mitchell spray painted his own face black “because he was planning to enter a portal to hell located inside his house.”

Armstrong told Mitchell’s cousin they would set Mitchell’s bail “high enough that he would not be able to bond out,” and assured him Mitchell would receive medical evaluation and treatment in jail, the lawsuit reads.

“Armstrong told him, ‘We’re going to detox him and then we’ll see how much of his brain is left,’ or words to that effect,” the lawsuit reads.

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‘The freezer’

For the duration of his stay at the jail, Mitchell was kept in cell BK5, the “drunk tank,” according to the suit, either mostly or completely naked on a bare concrete floor.

According to the amended complaint, during the night of Jan. 25 to Jan. 26, “corrections officers intentionally caused extremely cold air to blow through the roof vents” in to his cell using the jail’s climate control system.

The outside temperature that night was in the low 30s, the suit claims, so if “it was simply outside air blowing into the cells, that air was frigid,” the attorney wrote.

“BK5, referred to by some longtime corrections staff and inmates as “the freezer” because of the ability of corrections staff to subject inmates to frigid temperatures there, would have been the coldest cell in the booking area, the suite reads. “Inmates housed there report being able to see their breath because it was so cold and that their digits would turn numb.”

At various points during a check, two corrections officers are captured on video “clowning and laughing as Tony lies motionless and naked on the bare cement floor in the open cell behind them, obviously in severe medical distress and in need of immediate emergency medical treatment.”

Deputies, the complaint continues, “did not call an ambulance for him despite his obvious need for emergency medical treatment.”

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72 degrees Fahrenheit

When Mitchell was taken to a hospital in the backseat of a sheriff’s vehicle, his internal body temperature “was at most 72 degrees Fahrenheit when he arrived, according to the suit.

The emergency room doctor who treated Mitchell, and spent more than three hours trying to resuscitate him, wrote the following note in Mitchell’s medical records:

“I am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration, but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72°F… while someone is incarcerated in jail. The cause of his hypothermia is not clear…I do believe that hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death.”

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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Alabama

Alabama House passes overtime tax cut, grocery tax holiday in major relief push

Published

10 hours ago

April 1, 2026

Press Room

Alabama House passes overtime tax cut, grocery tax holiday in major relief push

The Alabama House of Representatives passed HB527 on Tuesday, delivering an Alabama overtime tax cut of up to $1,000 on qualified overtime pay and adding a 60-day grocery tax holiday, combining for a total fiscal impact of $83.4 million.

HB527, sponsored by State Rep. James Lomax (R-Huntsville), would allow taxpayers to deduct up to $1,000 in overtime pay from their state taxable income each year beginning in 2026. The deduction expires after 2028 unless extended.

The bill’s initial fiscal note was $37.4 million. State Rep. Mike Shaw (R-Hoover) offered an amendment on the floor to attach the 60-day grocery tax holiday, bringing the total fiscal note to $83.4 million.

The bill mirrors President Trump’s “no tax on overtime” policy included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, applying similar relief at the state level.

“The men and women working overtime shifts to provide for their families are also providing a significant boost to our state’s economy,” Lomax said. “I am proud to carry this legislation in an effort to support and thank them.”

The grocery tax holiday builds on existing legislative action on food costs. In 2023, the Legislature reduced the state grocery tax from 4 percent to 3 percent. During the 2025 session, the House accelerated that effort by cutting it further to 2 percent.

Alabama families are already saving roughly $236 a year from that existing cut, and the temporary two-month suspension of the remaining 2 percent would deliver roughly $40 in additional immediate relief for a typical family of four.

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) said the measure reflects a broader legislative push on affordability.

“With fuel prices surging and the price of beef and other essential items at the grocery store nearing all-time highs, it is imperative that state leaders double down on our efforts to lend a helping hand to Alabamians,” Ledbetter said. “Over the course of the last few weeks, I have worked with Governor Ivey and Senate leadership to determine the most expedient and impactful way to provide targeted relief, and we have determined that a 60-day grocery tax holiday presents the best opportunity to lift up every single Alabama family.”

Since 2022, the Alabama Legislature has delivered more than $1.4 billion in tax cuts to working families and retirees statewide. HB527 now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Tuesday was the 25th legislative day. There are five days remaining in the session.

Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].

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Alabama

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is hospitalized after a minor procedure, her office says

Published

22 hours ago

March 31, 2026

Press Room

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is hospitalized after a minor procedure, her office says

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey was hospitalized Tuesday after undergoing what her office described as a minor procedure to remove fluid that was pressing on her lung.

The 81-year-old Republican governor will be monitored at Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery “in the coming days” out of an abundance of caution, Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola said in a statement.

The fluid was discovered after Ivey went to her doctor because she was feeling discomfort in her left side and had recently experienced some shortness of breath.

“While it was not emergent, Governor Ivey wanted to get the procedure done as soon as possible so she can quickly get back to 100% to wrap up the 2026 Regular Session,” Maiola said. The legislative session is in its final days.

Her office did not specify how long the governor will be in the hospital or recovering.

“We are in touch with Governor Ivey, and she says she is determined to make a very speedy and full recovery.” Maiola said.

Ivey announced in 2019 that she was undergoing radiation for lung cancer. The governor described it as a small localized spot. Her office said in 2020 that scans indicated the treatment was successful and she was free of disease.

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Alabama

Which Players are Standing Out this Spring on Alabama’s Defensive Front

Published

1 day ago

March 31, 2026

Press Room

Which Players are Standing Out this Spring on Alabama’s Defensive Front

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama is having to replace a lot of its production up front on the defensive line from a year ago with LT Overton and Tim Keenan III off to the NFL and Keon Keeley, James Smith, Qua Russaw and Kelby Collins off to other schools out of the transfer portal.

Because of that, Kalen DeBoer and his staff were able to bring in some help from the portal themselves. Junior running back Daniel Hill has to go up against those guys every day in spring practice, and two of the transfers have been the biggest surprises to him along the defensive front.

“Thompkins from USC,” Hill said. “He’s a really good player. Des from South Carolina. Those two are really great players.”

Devan Thompkins spent three seasons at USC before transferring to Alabama this spring. Last year with the Trojans, he had 31 total tackles, including three sacks and a forced fumble. Desmond Umeozulu played in 36 games over three seasons at South Carolina, recording 30 total tackles with 2.5 for loss. Alabama also added 6-5, 319-pound defensive lineman Terrance Green from Oregon.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked about the new transfers up front after the Crimson Tide’s first scrimmage.

“A lot of potential to set the front, let them play ball. Not have to utilize pressures and blitzes all the time to cause chaos in the backfield. The ability to stop the run with the four and, obviously, the linebackers and your support is there to help. So we have certainly a bigger group of guys than what we’ve had in the past. And last year, probably our biggest struggle against the run game was on the edges.

“Our system lends to making sure balls don’t get out there very often in the run game. But even in the last game, you saw people just running right down the middle of our defense. And we wanna be able to mix things up, but we also wanna be able to just play base with the guys and our personnel. I think with those guys you mentioned, they’re gonna allow us to do that. They still got a ways to go, but I like the direction we’re headed.”

While Alabama did lose some key pieces from last year’s front seven, the Crimson Tide does return sacks leader Yhonzae Pierre as well as defensive lineman London Simmons, who played in all 15 games as a true freshman last season. Jeremiah Beaman and Edric Hill are also back for the Tide.

“We’ve got some guys that are dogs,” Alabama safety Keon Sabb said of the Crimson Tide’s defensive front. “At Bama, you want guys that really compete, and I feel like through the transfer portal and the younger guys, I think we found that.”

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