Reopening of Prison Homicide Cases in Mississippi
Nearly 50 prison deaths will be examined, following a joint investigation by multiple Mississippi newsrooms, as part of a collaborative investigation into Mississippi’s Deadly Prisons.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections will review more than two dozen unprosecuted homicides inside its prisons, as well as deaths where causes were ruled as “undetermined.”
“All the deaths that we’ve had since 2015, we’re going back to revisit,” Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain said. “There is no statute of limitations, as you know, on homicide.”
Cain’s comments follow an investigation by a team of Mississippi reporters that revealed at least 43 people died by homicide inside Mississippi prisons since 2015, with only eight total murder convictions.
- Total number of prison deaths to be examined: nearly 50
- Number of unprosecuted homicides to be reviewed: over two dozen
- Number of people who died by homicide since 2015: at least 43
- Total murder convictions: eight, including two guilty pleas
Author's summary: Mississippi reopens prison homicide cases from 2015.